The rare Andean anteater
The limb depicted below is from the rare Andean anteater. It feeds by pushing over ant hills and consuming the delicious larvae underneath. To do this, it needs to generate an out force at its claw of 50(newtons).
Assume the following:
the limb has the proportions shown below
the limb muscle generates this force with the joint angle and muscle line of action shown
the muscle generates a force of 4o 2 (i.e. 40 Newtons of force per square centimeter of physiological cross-sectional area)
the entire length of the whole muscle is composed of contractile tissue (i.e. there is no tendon – we’ll talk about tendons later)
Don’t have ruler, measured
�� pinky fingertips 1 pinky finger tip
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50�
What cross sectional area of muscle is required, assuming that the muscle fibers run parallel to the long axis of the muscle? (Note: Use a ruler, and measure in centimeters).
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