Question

The bones of the forearm (radius and ulna) are hinged to the humerus at the elbow. The biceps muscle connects to the bones of the forearm about 2.15 cm beyond the joint. Assume the forearm has a mass of 2.25 kg and a length of 0.425 m. When the humerus and the biceps are nearly vertical and the forearm is horizontal, if a person wishes to hold an object of mass 6.15 kg so that her forearm remains motionless, what is the force exerted by the biceps muscle

Answer 1

The force exerted by the biceps is 143.8 kgf.

Step-by-step explanation:

To calculate the force exerted by the biceps, we calculate the momentum in the elbow.

This momentum has to be zero so that her forearm remains motionless.

Being:

W: mass weight (6.15 kg)

d_W= distance to the mass weight (0.425 m)

A: weight of the forearm (2.25 kg)

d_A: distance to the center of mass of the forearm (0.425/2=0.2125 m)

H: force exerted by the biceps

d_H: distance to the point of connection of the biceps (0.0215 m)

The momemtum is:

`H*d_H-A*d_A-W*d_W=0\\\\H=(A*d_A+W*d_W)/d_H\\\\H=(2.25*0.2125+6.15*0.425)/0.0215\\\\H=(0.478125+2.61375)/0.0215\\\\H=3.091875/0.0215=143.8`

The force exerted by the biceps is 143.8 kgf.