MDCAT Biology · Biology · Support and movement. The idea in plain words, the rules to remember, the mistake to avoid and a worked example, written and checked by Mega Lecture.
The adult human skeleton has 206 bones. The axial skeleton (80 bones) is the skull, vertebral column, ribs and sternum. The appendicular skeleton (126 bones) is the two girdles and the limbs.
Bone is a hard, living tissue with a matrix of collagen and calcium phosphate and a rich blood supply. Cartilage is softer and flexible. It has no blood vessels, so it heals slowly.
A joint is where two bones meet. Joints are classed by how much movement they allow. Synovial joints move freely: the bone ends are covered by cartilage and lubricated by synovial fluid.
Students mix up osteoblasts and osteoclasts. Remember: blasts build, clasts cut away.
Answer: 30 bones in each upper limb, so 60 in the two together.
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