Final answer:
Bones and muscles function as mechanical devices called levers, where bones are the levers and joints serve as fulcrums. Skeletal muscles apply force to move these levers and enable bodily movement.
Step-by-step explanation:
Bones and muscles function as mechanical devices known as levers. In the human body, bones act as stiff levers and joints serve as fulcrums. When a muscle spans a joint and contracts, it exerts a force that moves the bone, similar to how a lever system works.
For instance, consider the act of removing a nail using the back of a hammer: the handle acts as the lever while the head of the hammer is the fulcrum. Similarly, our musculoskeletal system functions with bones being the levers and synovial joints acting as fulcrums.
The force applied by the contraction of muscles is what moves these levers, enabling movement of the body.