Abstract
This chapter introduces some concepts from mechanics that are of biological or medical interest. We begin with a discussion of sizes important in biology. Then we turn to the forces on an object that is in equilibrium and calculate the forces experienced by various bones and muscles. In Sec. 1.8 we introduce the concept of mechanical work, which will recur throughout the book. The next two sections describe how materials deform when forces act on them. Sections 1.11 through 1.14 discuss the forces in stationary and moving fluids. These concepts are then applied to laminar viscous flow in a pipe, which is a model for the flow of blood and the flow of fluid through pores in cell membranes. The chapter ends with a discussion of the circulatory system.
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Hobbie, R.K., Roth, B.J. (2007). Mechanics. In: Intermediate Physics for Medicine and Biology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-49885-0_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-49885-0_1
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