All bones in human body are equal in strength.

Munyit

Why does many sites always said the femur is the strongest and heaviest bone in the human body? I know the femur is the longest bone, but is it really that the femur is the strongest and heaviest bone in human body? This is a link where it is said that human femur and humerus are nearly equal in strength (http://informahealthcare.com/doi/pdf...53676808989447)

There are also numerous sites that said actually the tibia is the strongest and heaviest bone, even stronger and heavier than femur. But without more detail about the femur and tibia are the strongest and heaviest bone, I think our humerus or even other bone can get more robust, stronger, heavier and denser than the femur or tibia, under some kind of stress. Well, again though, I wouldn't quote me on this, as I'm sure there are people here on this forum that are more knowledgeable about this stuff than I am. Can someone give more detailed answers regarding this?

256bits

The femur is the longest, strongest and biggest bone in the human body. If one compares the femur to the humerus or the tibia, then the femur wins in all three categories.
This is comparing one particular bone to another.

If one then examines the bone material, which is what the site you reference is all about, then the bone material seems to be of comparable strength, although there is some difference as indicated in the reference.

This is the same as comparing two rods made of steel, with one rod of a larger diameter than the other - the larger rod would be stronger, although the steel itself has the same property of tensile and ultimate strength in both.

Munyit

Yes, in general the femur should be longer, bigger and stronger than both the humerus and tibia. But I think there must be exceptions, because I read somewhere in books few years ago the tibia or even the humerus can become stronger, heavier and denser than femur. Also it is said the bone strengthens after some intense mechanical stress. I don't remember what's the title of the book anyway. I also recalled seeing a website, it is stated that other long bones in human body can become equal in strength, robustness, weight or even length to femur under very rare circumstances. By the way, I need a more further explanation about this.

russ_watters

Is there a context to these questions that would help us understand where you are going with this in order to provide more relevant information?

Munyit

This is not a homework question. I'm just curious and skeptical about the strongest bone in human body, because you will find many different answers around the site and books, same like the question 'what's the strongest muscle' which is can't be assigned to any muscle. Some said the strongest muscle is the masseter, some said quadriceps, some said butt muscle, some said eye muscle and finally they said the strongest muscle is the tongue. There can't be a definite answer.

bobze

Stress causes bone remodeling and strengthening. In a normal human the femur would be the longest, strongest and heaviest bone in the body. Certainly you could find or create circumstances to usurp the femurs title. Such as in a paraplegic who lifts weights with their upper body, but has had their lower body confined to a wheel chair for decades. In such a case the femur, like the leg musculature, would suffer from atrophy.

The femur is typically the strongest bone because of the mechanics of standing and walking. Which constantly stress the femur.

Munyit

Yes of course the femur is the largest, heaviest and strongest bone in the human body, only in general sense. But I think the humerus can get stronger than femur even without 'their lower body confined to a wheel chair for decades'.

fluidistic

Strangely in my case I had heard teeth were the strongest bones in our body. Wikipedia says . Does this qualify as "strength" for a bone?

Munyit

It is called enamel, not a type of bone actually. It is said to be the hardest substance of the human body, but I don't know how tough is it.

Borek

Define "the strongest".

Each time you see discussion of this type it probably means people are comparing apples and oranges - everyone has different meaning of "the xxxxxx" in mind when comparing.

tiny-tim

I think someone was pulling their leg.

Munyit

How could be someone was pulling their leg? I think it's you that pulling your leg very hard.

Munyit

Hmm, I wonder how much does human femur and humerus weigh, including their minimum and maximum weight?

Dr_Morbius

Look at your upper arm and compare it to your upper leg. Without a doubt your upper leg is far bigger than your upper arm; I don't care how much weight lifting you've been doing. The femur is the largest and strongest bone in the human body. Any website that says otherwise is wrong.

Munyit

As I already stated, your upper leg is larger than your upper arm and of course the femur is the largest and strongest bone in human body, in general.

gravenewworld

Bone receives mechanical transduced cues from the forces it is subject to which regulate bone adsorption and remodeling. As a result, bones in different areas of the body may be "stronger" than others based on their anatomical/physiological roles.

Munyit

How much does human femur and humerus weigh? I think there are no much difference in weight between these two bones, despite generally the femur are bigger than humerus.