How Much Force is needed to break bones?

Majin Gojira · Post by **Majin Gojira** » 2003-01-08 12:21pm

Well? (Could you please display the numbers in pounds and Newtons if possible?)

It's just something I've always wondered.

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2003-01-08 01:28pm

About 9psi applied direct to the bone or at a location where there isn't any "Padding" to cushion the force (Like say fingers) or a nice strong 9psi overpresser will do to eardrums.

Stormbringer · Post by **Stormbringer** » 2003-01-08 01:29pm

It depends on the bones in question. I person can easily break the more delicate bones. Others are tougher stuff.

Did you have a specifc one to ask about?

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2003-01-08 01:33pm

I was going for the minimum quanity

laterial stress.

you could use a femer as a jack, but a laterial stress, will still break one.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2003-01-08 03:02pm

The Yosemite Bear wrote:I was going for the minimum quanity

laterial stress.

you could use a femer as a jack, but a laterial stress, will still break one.

When you say that I assume you mean human bones and those not suffering osteoporosis or osteogenesis imperfecta.

Majin Gojira · Post by **Majin Gojira** » 2003-01-08 03:11pm

The Yosemite Bear wrote:About 9psi applied direct to the bone or at a location where there isn't any "Padding" to cushion the force (Like say fingers) or a nice strong 9psi overpresser will do to eardrums.

How about where their is padding? like say, the limbs or the rib bones.

Does thickness of the bone affect this number? (IE how much bone their is)

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2003-01-08 03:38pm

Majin Gojira wrote:
The Yosemite Bear wrote:About 9psi applied direct to the bone or at a location where there isn't any "Padding" to cushion the force (Like say fingers) or a nice strong 9psi overpresser will do to eardrums.
How about where their is padding? like say, the limbs or the rib bones.

Does thickness of the bone affect this number? (IE how much bone their is)

As with any material, shape and structure are important too, a bird has bones with very hollow structures since they need to be light but also have a honeycomb inside to allow for strenth, they would still be easier to break than a human bone.

A vertebrae is a smaller and more compact bone than a femur and would take more force to chip or shatter than the femur due to the shape.

Post by **NecronLord** » 2003-01-08 03:41pm

AV, I am fairly sure in this context he means a fully healthy adult human.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2003-01-08 03:44pm

NecronLord wrote:AV, I am fairly sure in this context he means a fully healthy adult human.

Well I was rather hoping the idea of tapping someone who suffered fourth degree osteogenesis imperfecta and thereby snapping their bones would be a clear indication to be careful an drink milk.

Incidentally, I hear that too much calcium is equally bad (not just because of gall stones) because it can make the bones too brittle with excess calcium.

Post by **NecronLord** » 2003-01-08 03:55pm

Admiral Valdemar wrote:
NecronLord wrote:AV, I am fairly sure in this context he means a fully healthy adult human.
Well I was rather hoping the idea of tapping someone who suffered fourth degree osteogenesis imperfecta and thereby snapping their bones would be a clear indication to be careful an drink milk.

Incidentally, I hear that too much calcium is equally bad (not just because of gall stones) because it can make the bones too brittle with excess calcium.

Ah indeed. The joys of freakish ingestion habits.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2003-01-08 06:14pm

What about the bone mass of Darkstar's skull? How much force would it take to break that?

HemlockGrey · Post by **HemlockGrey** » 2003-01-08 06:15pm

According to my calculations, the answer is zero, because DarkStar is merely a spiritual personification of entropy. Therefor, he has no skull.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2003-01-08 06:28pm

Darth Wong wrote:What about the bone mass of Darkstar's skull? How much force would it take to break that?

Well, you know neutronium? Do you know how to multiply by infinity?

You get the picture, that or he really is a spiritual representation of entropy.

Kosh_The_Vorlon · Post by **Kosh_The_Vorlon** » 2003-01-08 06:46pm

The Yosemite Bear wrote:I was going for the minimum quanity

laterial stress.

you could use a femer as a jack, but a laterial stress, will still break one.

As I know all too well...It's not that hard to break a femur if you hit it in the right place..Trust me, I broke mine in two places when my bike tipped over and the bar that's on all guy's bikes (inexplicably..) caught my leg and made a nasty cracking sound with it..So, not that much to break even the toughest bone in the body.

Malecoda · Post by **Malecoda** » 2003-01-08 07:40pm

what inexplicable bar? the top tube?

I think a vertebra would be easier to chip than a femur, bec of the finlike processes coming off of it. Not the body of it though. As a way to prolong my dorky post, I once was hit by a 1963 Olds while riding my bike, and the main injury was a broken medial femural condyle. Other damage was hella road rash and broken big toes.

kojikun · Post by **kojikun** » 2003-01-08 08:13pm

Heres a question .. How much (the) Force is required to break bone?

DPDarkPrimus · Post by **DPDarkPrimus** » 2003-01-08 09:35pm

http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=001018

Not breaking bones, but possibly useful in everyday knowlage.

Connor MacLeod · Post by **Connor MacLeod** » 2003-01-08 11:47pm

Darth Wong wrote:What about the bone mass of Darkstar's skull? How much force would it take to break that?

You have to get through the Wall of Ignorance first. Even if you manage to break his skull, he'll deny you did it and think he won.

Kosh_The_Vorlon · Post by **Kosh_The_Vorlon** » 2003-01-09 01:09am

Malecoda wrote:what inexplicable bar? the top tube?

The one positioned right where a guy's gonna seriously hurt his Little Man if he slides off the front of the seat somehow..

Malecoda · Post by **Malecoda** » 2003-01-10 04:49pm

that's the top tube. don't fall on it.

The Dark · Post by **The Dark** » 2003-01-10 05:00pm

Malecoda wrote:what inexplicable bar? the top tube?

I think a vertebra would be easier to chip than a femur, bec of the finlike processes coming off of it. Not the body of it though. As a way to prolong my dorky post, I once was hit by a 1963 Olds while riding my bike, and the main injury was a broken medial femural condyle. Other damage was hella road rash and broken big toes.

I've had broken parts five times. I say broken parts because four of the times it was the cartilage in my nose separating from the bone. Rather painful the first two times, hurt a bit the third time, didn't even notice the fourth until blood ran into my mouth.

The other one was a broken fingerbone which occurred in band. I was a mallet player, and was playing two people on an instrument with crossovers (where parts overlap, so our arms crossed back and forth over each other). I was slow pulling back from a note, and my partner hit me with a yarn-wrapped rubber mallet on top of my hand, breaking my middle fingerbone in the middle of a performance. Let me just say I was in pain for a few days because I couldn't stop (I had a solo later that nobody else knew).