Bone and Skeleton Facts
Where is the most prominent bone in the body?
The femur, or the thigh-bone, is the longest and largest bone in the human body. It is usually around 19.9 inches long.
Where is it in the body?
It can be found in the leg, measuring from the hip down to the knee area.
The second-biggest bone is a bit further below that. The subsequent most prominent bone is the tibia or the shin-bone. This is typically about 16.9 inches long. Then there’s the fibula, which is about an inch shorter at 15.9 inches. The fibula is found in the lower leg.
The most significant bone in the arm is the humerus or the upper arm bone. This bone is generally about 14.4 inches long.
Kids vs. adults
Babies have more bones than adults, though they are, of course, much, much smaller. Babies have around 300 bones, but adults have about 206. Some of these baby bones are made of a firm tissue called cartilage, which is softer than bone. As kids grow, some of this cartilage hardens and turns to bone. Some of this bone then fuses to form larger bones.
Children’s bones continue to grow as they get older. They are also more flexible. Their bones won’t stop growing until their late teens or early twenties. Adult bones are more brittle and are more likely to break, whereas children’s bones can sometimes bend. Children heal faster than adults, and their bones can be reshaped.
Children have these things called ‘growth plates’ at the end of long bones in their arms and legs. If they stay open, then you can still grow.
Bones gain in density until adults turn 30 years old. After this, the thickness can decline if you don’t get enough vitamins (A, K, and D) and calcium. Exercise can also help with bone density.
How can I protect my bones?
- Wear a helmet when riding a bike or playing sports where you can hit your head. If you’re riding a scooter, roller skates, or even skateboarding, it’s essential to wear a helmet and consider wearing elbow and knee pads too. Wearing them absorbs some of the shocks when you fall and can mean you hurt yourself less.
- Staying active can strengthen your bones too. Walking, running, dancing… whatever ways of moving you enjoy the most!
- Many dairy products, like milk and cheese, are chock-full of calcium. You can also take multivitamins with calcium and other vitamins to help your bones grow and stay strong. Soy milk, almonds, and many leafy green veggies like kale and broccoli also have calcium.
What are bones made up of, and how do broken bones heal?
Adult bones are made up of four things:
- The top layer is called the periosteum. This is a membranous tissue that covers your bones’ surface. It’s essential for repairing and growing bones.
- Then there’s compact (or complex) bone. This layer is heavy and very dense. It gives the bone strength. This is the part you see when you look at a skeleton.
- There’s also cancellous (or spongy) bone. There are lots of layers of this spongy bone. The spaces in the cancellous bone are full of blood vessels and bone marrow. Red blood cells, some white blood cells, and platelets are made. Bone marrow is thick and jelly-like, and its job is to make blood cells.
Bones are made out of a protein called collagen. A mineral called calcium phosphate makes the framework of the bones hard and strong. Bones store calcium and release some into your blood if other body parts need it.
If you break a bone, blood vessels form in the area as quickly as possible to help the healing process to start. Within three weeks, collagen forms to hold the broken bits of bone in place. The damaged surfaces bind together to create new bone. Sometimes this new bone can be even more potent than the original bone!
Collagen is constantly replenishing itself. This means that you have a completely new skeleton roughly every seven years!
Where are the most bones in the body?
There are 54 bones in an adult hand! In addition, in your fingers, wrists, and hand, many smaller bones move together to make it possible for you to write, play instruments, and even use controllers to play video games!Top of Form
Are teeth bones?
While teeth contain calcium and minerals like bones, they don’t have collagen. This means that they do not count as bones. They are, however, still a part of your skeleton.
Is the funny bone natural?
You don’t have a bone called the funny bone, no. Instead, it’s something called the ulnar nerve inside your elbow. If you hit it, it makes you feel a strange tingly, prickly pain.
Other minor parts of the body
We now know the answer to the question ‘Where is the smallest bone in the body?’ but what about other most minor body parts?
The little organ in the human body is the pineal gland. It can be found near the middle of your brain. It’s the human body’s most minor endocrine gland. The pineal gland’s job is to produce melatonin. Melatonin is a hormone that affects how we sleep. It also reacts to seasonal changes too. It’s called the pineal gland because it’s shaped like a little pinecone.
The smallest blood vessels in the body are capillaries. They also have the thinnest walls. Capillaries connect veins and arteries. They can be as small as 5-10 micrometers wide. Each adult human being contains about 10 billion capillaries. If these were laid next to each other in a line, they would stretch to about 25,000 miles!
The tiniest muscle in the human body is the stapedius. This muscle is connected to the stapes bone and contracts to pull back the stapes and protect your inner ear from thunderous noises. The stapedius is only about 1 millimeter in size. This muscle also stops your voice from sounding too loud in your head.
