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Bones

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Biomechanics of the Human Body

Part of the book series: Undergraduate Lecture Notes in Physics ((ULNP))

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Abstract

The bones that form the skeleton are made of an organic matrix—collagen, and inorganic crystals of calcium and phosphate, plus water. The bones are made to support the body's weight as well as quite larger stresses. Collagen is responsible for bone's great elasticity and the inorganic crystals for their resistance to tensile and compressive forces. The elastic properties of bone are compared with those of steel-reinforced concrete.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Technique of dating by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR).

  2. 2.

    We acknowledge the information given by Dr. Iutaka, orthopedist of Hospital das Clínicas of Faculdade de Medicina of S. Paulo University.

  3. 3.

    This is valid if the altitude is not very high, which will be the case here considered. Otherwise, the resistance to the motion by the air increases with the velocity, so that for any falling body there is a limiting velocity for which there is no longer any net acceleration and the velocity ceases to increase, becoming constant.

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© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Okuno, E., Fratin, L. (2014). Bones. In: Biomechanics of the Human Body. Undergraduate Lecture Notes in Physics. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8576-6_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8576-6_7

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-8575-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-8576-6

  • eBook Packages: Physics and AstronomyPhysics and Astronomy (R0)

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