Finding topics that inspire students is an important aspect of any physics course. Virtually everyone is fascinated by Tyrannosaurus rex, and the excitement of the class is palpable when we explore scaling effects in T. rex and other bipedal theropod dinosaurs as part of our discussion of mechanics and elasticity. In this paper, we explore the role of longitudinal stress in the femur bones due to the weight of the dinosaur in determining how the geometry of the femur changes with size of the theropod. This is one area of allometry the study of how different biological characteristics scale with size.1
REFERENCES
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Purchased from Gaston Design, Inc.
(http://www.gastondesign.com). Other possible sources of bone models include Bone Clones, Inc. (http://www.boneclones.com/). An Internet search will reveal other sources of model bones.3.
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).© 2014 American Association of Physics Teachers.
2014
American Association of Physics Teachers
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