What Does it Take to Break a Bone?

Lots of people suffer from broken bones, but what does it really take to break one? Experts will tell you that it depends on the bone, and there are several reasons for this.

For example, the rib bones in your body are thinner and have less mass to them, which means they're going to be a lot easier to break than say a thicker bone like your femur bone. Moreover, the femur has a lot of heavy duty muscles surrounding it, while rids often do not, which acts as an impact absorber in a lot of circumstances.

For some bones, like ribs, a force of about 742 pounds would be required, while harder bones like the femur bone, would require up to 899 pounds of force.

These numbers aren't static for everyone, because the way the force is applied and the differences between two people will make all the difference. Those with osteo problems, such as osteoporosis, will obviously break bones much easier as their bodies can't fortify bones as easily.

So what does it take to break a bone? Heavy direct horizontal blows or crushes are the most typical reasons for breaking bones. Bones are great as compressional forces vertically, but when impacted horizontally, bones are significantly weaker.