Calculating force for animal bites/scratches

[Physics quest]

Heya, I am wondering how would one calculate or find the force associated with animals such as tigers, dogs, lions etc.

At the moment, i am interested in finding how much force or pressure is created by a cat when it scratches. Any help would be appreciated, thank you.

As a side note, this is mainly to find out how much, comparatively it takes to cut human skin, rough figuires online point me to about 400 pounds per square inch of pressure required to penetrate human skin but does that literally mean per square inch of skin or is that just a measurement? Do I find the area of a cats claw (somehow, not sure how I would do this, its very small) and then divide the 400 psi down to pounds per square millimeter or whatever the cats claw size is?

Thank you again for any aid.

 

[JHamm]

The pounds per square inch doesn't mean you actually need to take a square inch of skin, just like you don't need to wait an hour for your car speedometer to give you a new reading.

 

[Physics quest]

So when taking smaller measurements, let's say a square millimeter I divide the number for square inch, e.g. 400 for human skin pressure resistance and reduce it by said number, so humans would in my example have only 0.6 psi per square mm?

Then from there, find the force of a cat scratch, probably the hardest bit, probably easier finding a bite or something but ime interested in the scratch because I am interested in the small amount of damage one can produce, wheras bites can become more severe.

 

[MrB8rPhysics]

Using pressure to estimate the force will give you a lower boundary on what he force could be...

Reccomend working in N/m^2 btw rather than imperial units. Saves fiddly conversions.

 

[CellCoree]

Hello there,

Calculating the force associated with animal bites and scratches is a complex process and requires a lot of factors to be taken into consideration. First, we need to understand that the force of an animal bite or scratch is dependent on the size and strength of the animal, as well as the angle and pressure applied by the animal's jaw or claws.

To calculate the force of an animal bite, we can use the formula F = P x A, where F is the force, P is the pressure, and A is the area of contact. In this case, we would need to determine the pressure exerted by the animal's jaw or claws and the area of contact with the skin.

To find the pressure exerted by an animal's jaw, we would need to measure the bite force using a specialized instrument called a bite force meter. This instrument measures the force applied by the animal's jaw and converts it into pounds per square inch (psi).

For scratches, we would need to measure the force applied by the animal's claws, which can be more challenging as it would require specialized equipment and techniques. However, we can estimate the force by considering the size and strength of the animal, as well as the sharpness of its claws.

Regarding your question about the pressure required to penetrate human skin, the rough figures you found online are correct. However, this is just an average estimate and can vary depending on the thickness and toughness of the skin in different areas of the body.

To calculate the force required to penetrate human skin, we would need to know the pressure required (in psi) and the area of the skin being penetrated. This can be done by dividing the pressure by the area of the skin.

In summary, calculating the force associated with animal bites and scratches is a complex process that requires specialized equipment and techniques. I would suggest consulting with a biologist or animal behavior expert for more accurate and detailed information. I hope this helps.