The human body contains 206 bones. Each bone in your body is designed for a specific function. The longest and strongest bones in your body are the leg bones; the femur, or the thighbone, is the longest and strong enough to bear the gravitational pressure from the weight of your body. The shaft of the bone is shaped like a cylinder, which helps make it so strong. Without the strength of our leg muscles, we would not be able to run, walk, or even stand upright. This is also true for other animals like chimpanzees and orangutans, but what about fictional creatures such as King Kong?
DRIVING QUESTION: Could King Kong really exist?
Watch this video before proceeding to the next part of this assignment.
https://youtu.be/yNyLTVFv8KQ
You have determined that when a three-dimensional object's dimensions are increased by a given factor
the surface area (cross sectional area of bone) increases by a factor of
the volume (weight) increases by a factor of
Bone strenth is proportional to cross-sectional area of the bone. A perpendicuar cross-section is the surface area found by cutting an object perpendicular to it's length. Thus, the cross-sectional area of a leg bone can be thought of as a somewhat irregular disk (since the bone is not a perfect cylinder). See the image of a cross-section of a human femur below.
THIS MEANS THAT WEIGHT INCREASES MORE QUICKLY THAN BONE STRENGTH UNDER A SIZE CHANGE.
Before we analyze King Kong's proportions, let's look at Robert Pershing Wadlow's dimensions. Please read the article under the image of Wadlow alongside his family. You will use the data in the table to answer the following questions.
What kind of health issues did Wadlow suffer from related to his large height?
1 point
1
Question 2
2.
How many times taller is Wadlow than the average man? This is your k value since you are comparing a LINEAR dimension.
Write your answer as a decimal rounded to the tenths place. The k value is unitless, so just write the number in the answer blank.
1 point
1
Question 3
3.
What is the k squared value for the human data? This is the bone strength related to the cross-sectional area of the bone.
Round this answer to the nearest hundredths place. This answer is unitless, so only write the number in the answer blank. hint: You calculated the k value in question #1.
1 point
1
Question 4
4.
What is the k cubed value for the human data? This is related to the weight of Wadlow compared to the weight of the average human.
Round your answer to the hundredths place and write only the number in the answer space.
What did this mean for Robert Wadlow? If we compare his weight to the average male's weight we get
This value is less than the k cubed value you calculated in #3, so Wadlow was actuallly underweight for his height, yet still had bone strength issues!
1 point
1
Question 5
5.
Why did Wadlow have bone strength issues? Use the k squared and the weight comparison (2.5) to answer this question.
1 point
1
Question 6
6.
How many times taller is King Kong than the average male gorilla? This is your k value since you are comparing a LINEAR dimension.
Write your answer rounded to the nearest whole number. The k value is unitless, so just write the number in the answer blank.
1 point
1
Question 7
7.
What is the k squared value for the gorilla/King Kong data?
Round this answer to the nearest whole number. This answer is unitless, so only write the number in the answer blank. hint: You calculated the k value in question #6.
1 point
1
Question 8
8.
What is the k cubed value for the gorilla/King Kong data? This is related to the weight of King Kong compared to the weight of the average gorilla.
Round this answer to the nearest whole number. Remember that this answer is unitless, so you would only write a number in the answer space.
Watch this video before answering the last question.
https://youtu.be/NoD85qZhkWY
4 points
4
Question 9
9.
Could King Kong really exist? Use your answers from #6-8 to answer this question.
This is Mark Witton's drawing of what King Kong might actually look like.
More videos for your viewing pleasure! Did you know that King Kong battled a T-Rex?
