• Question: How are bones so strong

    Asked by 325enqm48 to Jennifer, Dan, Luke, Martin, sakshisharda on 8 Mar 2018. This question was also asked by 569enqm25.
    • Photo: Jennifer Paxton

      Jennifer Paxton answered on 8 Mar 2018:

      Thanks for your question – I love talking about bones! 🙂
      Bones are strong because they are made from two really important materials. The first is a hard chemical called calcium phosphate. It is white in colour and very hard, and so this is what makes bones strong and white! The other material is a protein called collagen. Collagen is very strong too but it is much more bendy than the calcium phosphate – think of it like big thick ropes! The two together make a really strong material that can withstand a high load (so is very strong) but also take the impact of running, walking, jumping etc (and it quite ‘springy’).

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