• 12 parts
  • Checked October 2026

Skin Receptors Diagram

One block of skin and the six receptors that sense touch, pressure, stretch and vibration.

Skin Receptors Diagram

Name Date

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
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Write the name of each numbered part.Answer key

  1. Epidermis
  2. Dermis
  3. Hypodermis
  4. Free nerve endings
  5. Meissner corpuscle (tactile corpuscle)
  6. Pacinian corpuscle (lamellar corpuscle)
  7. Merkel cell
  8. Merkel disc (tactile disc)
  9. Ruffini corpuscle (bulbous corpuscle)
  10. Hair follicle receptor (root hair plexus)
  11. Dermal papilla
  12. Sensory nerve

Drawn for this site on 2026-10-01 from plain geometry. Licence: own work.

Each numbered ring is a button. Use the arrow keys to move between them and Enter to choose. Names are read out in Study, and once a part is answered.

Next step Next: the whole skin, with its hair and glands

All 12 parts on the diagram

Show the list

The receptors 7

  1. Free nerve endings Bare nerve tips that end among the cells of the epidermis.
  2. Meissner corpuscle (tactile corpuscle) A stacked capsule in a dermal papilla. It senses light touch.
  3. Pacinian corpuscle (lamellar corpuscle) A large layered capsule in the hypodermis. It senses vibration.
  4. Merkel cell A touch cell in the deepest row of the epidermis.
  5. Merkel disc (tactile disc) A flat nerve ending under a Merkel cell. It senses pressure.
  6. Ruffini corpuscle (bulbous corpuscle) A spindle-shaped capsule deep in the dermis. It senses stretch.
  7. Hair follicle receptor (root hair plexus) Nerve endings wrapped round a hair follicle. They sense a moving hair.

Where they lie 5

  1. Epidermis The outer layer of the skin.
  2. Dermis The thick middle layer, under the epidermis.
  3. Hypodermis The fatty layer under the dermis.
  4. Dermal papilla A bump of the dermis that pushes up into the epidermis.
  5. Sensory nerve Carries the signals from the receptors toward the spinal cord.

How this list was compiled: Every name checked on 2026-10-01 and kept only where two of these use it. (1) Wikipedia, text only: Mechanoreceptor, Tactile corpuscle, Pacinian corpuscle, Bulbous corpuscle, Merkel nerve ending, Merkel cell, Free nerve ending, Hair plexus, Dermis and Subcutaneous tissue, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanoreceptor . (2) A university neuroscience textbook chapter on the somatosensory receptors, https://nba.uth.tmc.edu/neuroscience/m/s2/chapter02.html : free nerve endings; the hair follicle receptor, whose endings spiral round the follicle; the Merkel cell with a nerve ending at its base; Meissner corpuscles in the dermal papillae; Pacinian corpuscles in the subcutaneous tissue, sensitive to vibration; Ruffini corpuscles deep in the dermis, sensitive to skin stretch. (3) A university histology page on skin, https://histology.siu.edu/intro/skin.htm : epidermis, dermis and hypodermis, Meissner's and Pacinian corpuscles, Ruffini endings, free nerve endings and Merkel cells. (4) Gray, Anatomy of the Human Body, 20th edition, 1918 (public domain), Peripheral Terminations of Nerves of General Sensations, https://www.bartleby.com/107/233.html : free nerve-endings in the epidermis, the tactile disks described by Merkel, and the corpuscles of Pacini, of Meissner and of Ruffini. No OpenStax page was read. Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-10-01 from plain geometry; nothing traced. Licence: own work

How it works

This skin receptors diagram shows each touch receptor at the depth where it lies, from the bare nerve tips in the epidermis down to the hypodermis.

Read the full guide

Near the surface

Free nerve endings are bare tips that reach in among the cells of the epidermis. A Merkel disc is a flat nerve ending pressed against a Merkel cell at the base of the epidermis. A Meissner corpuscle sits inside a dermal papilla, just under the epidermis, and senses light touch.

Round the hair and deeper down

Nerve endings wrap round each hair follicle and sense when the hair moves. The Ruffini corpuscle is a spindle lying deep in the dermis; it senses stretch. The Pacinian corpuscle, built in layers, lies in the hypodermis and senses vibration.

  • Every receptor is drawn far larger than life so you can tap it.
  • The quiz accepts tactile, lamellar and bulbous corpuscle, tactile disc and root hair plexus.

Questions and answers

What are the tactile receptors in the skin?

Six kinds: free nerve endings, hair follicle receptors, Merkel discs, Meissner corpuscles, Ruffini corpuscles and Pacinian corpuscles. An art labeling activity on tactile receptors asks for the same six. This drawing is our own, not a course figure.

What is the difference between a Merkel cell and a Merkel disc?

The Merkel cell is a receptor cell in the deepest row of the epidermis. The Merkel disc is the flat end of the nerve fiber pressed against the base of that cell.

Which skin receptor senses vibration?

The Pacinian corpuscle, also called the lamellar corpuscle. It lies deep, in the hypodermis, and is built of many thin layers.

What are the other names for these receptors?

The Meissner corpuscle is the tactile corpuscle, the Pacinian corpuscle the lamellar corpuscle, the Ruffini corpuscle the bulbous corpuscle and the Merkel disc the tactile disc. The quiz accepts either name.

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