What Are The Largest And Smallest Bones In The Body?

What Are The Largest And Smallest Bones In The Body? You were born with about 300 bones, but as you grow older, some of the bones in your skull fuse together, so you end up having 206 bones in your body. These bones determine the structure of our bodies and carry out so many functions. 

Bones aren’t just packs of hard mineral, they are actually classified as organs, and are very much alive. They come in different categories, shapes and densities. In this article, we will be focusing on the largest bone in the body. 

If you didn’t know, the largest bone in your body is your thigh bone (femur) while the smallest bone in your body is called stapes, found in your ear. In this post- What Are The Largest And Smallest Bones In The Body, we will be giving you some interesting facts you probably didn’t know about these two awesome bones.


What Are The Largest And Smallest Bones In The Body 

12 Facts About Your Femur

1. It is the longest bone your body, making up as much a quarter of your entire height. Tall people tend to have longer femurs. 

2. It is also the heaviest and strongest bone in your body, weighing about 260 grams but stronger than concrete. 

3. It has three main parts: a head, a neck, and a body. 

4. It connects with your pelvis to form the hip joint. The head of the femur is shaped like a ball which fits into the acetabular surface of the pelvis to form the hip joint. 

5. Due to the fact that is the only bone in the thigh, it supports almost all your body’s weight when you walk, stand, run or jump. 

6. Its lower end forms the knee joint along with the tibia, fibula, and patella (kneecap). 

7. Its ends are covered by cartilage, a connective tissue that protects it from being damaged. When cartilage is broken down, arthritis starts. Arthritis is a common cause of back of knee pain, especially in old people. People with arthritis often need to have painkillers often and get use some mobility equipment to move around easily. 

8. More than 40 muscles and ligaments attach to the femur at different locations, helping to stabilize and move it when we carry out certain movements. 

9. It is a hollow bone, what this means is that it isn’t entirely solid all through, its structure resembles a thick tube with a central space. 

10.It is a site for the manufacture of blood cells. Blood cells are made in the marrow of long bones, like in the hollow part of the femur. 

11. It takes a very high amount of force to fracture this bone. This is because it is very strong and heavily surrounded by dense and powerful muscles. High forces like those generated from car accidents or falls from heights can fracture the femur or even lead to a dislocated knee. 

12. Because of how mobile and strong the femur is, when it is fractured, surgery is often carried out to unite its broken ends by means of a connecting metal implant.

 5 Facts About Stapes- The Smallest Bone In Your Body 
1. Along with malleus and incus, the stapes bone is found in your middle ear. Collectively, these three bones are termed ossicles. 
2. In line with the answer to the question, what are the largest and smallest bones in the body, stapes are recognised as the smallest bones in the body, measuring about 3 mm by 2.5 mm. The three ossicles are so small that they can easily fit together on the surface of a penny. 
3. It works in the transmission of sound vibrations from the outer to inner ear. They are extremely sensitive, vibrating in response to sound and transmitting these to structures in the inner ear. 
4. It is also the lightest bone in the body but so important. Without these small ear bones, you won’t be able to hear. 
5. It is also called the stirrup- because it looks like one. The Latin name for a stirrup is ‘stapes’, a stirrup is the ring frame that is stepped on in the process of mounting an animal like a horse.