At what psi do bones break?

Which bones? Fingers? Femurs?

What sort of break? Green stick fracture? Common-garden fracture? Osteoporosic crumbling?

Here the deal,, every thurday we have at our office a quiz some one comes up with a question puts it on the board and the first to get it right wins the prize.. no one got it right. apparently the answer was 8psi,, but i disagree,, i asked them for a ref. to it, but they said they got it off a karate web site, so in searching i could find a exact number, which is completely understandable, without Know it's density.. like i came across one site where it said bones can with stand thousands or pounds of pressure. so i was trying to find out if there is a exact number.. i realize this is no big deal, but its one of those things i would just like to know. thanks

I don't think you can have one absolute psi figure for every human bone in the world. I'm an observer rather than a scientist, but it seems to me there should be a range of figures.

Sorry I can't be more specific.

ok finally found it,, apparently there is no exact psi, which is what i thought but i could find any ref, fo it, so i thought i would check here.. thanks for your help

You're welcome, Walker. I hope you stick around.

You won't find an exact answer because it depends, as Noddy implied, on which bone, the health of the person, etc. Also, it will depend on whether the bone is broken by tension, compression, torsion, impact, etc.

Just thinking about one instance -- which, granted, is probably the strongest bone of the body...

The head of the femur only articulates in the pelvis across a surface area of a couple of square inches, and yet is capable of supporting hundreds of pounds* in a vertical column.


*I don't have a figure, and it would be highly variable, as has been pointed out, but an obese person wearing a heavy backpack can stand on one leg without the head of the femur snapping off, and that's supporting the weight of the trunk, arms, head, one leg, and a big pack...