The chewing muscle, the masseter, is one of the strongest in the human body. It

Question

The chewing muscle, the masseter, is one of the strongest in the human body. It is attached to the mandible (lower jawbone) as shown in figure (a). The jawbone is pivoted about a socket just in front of the auditory canal. The forces acting on the jawbone are equivalent to those acting on the curved bar in figure (b). vector F C is the force exerted by the food being chewed against the jawbone, vector T is the force of tension in the masseter, and vector R is the force exerted by the socket on the mandible. Find vector T and vector R for a person who bites down on a piece of steak with a force of 55.6 N. magnitude of vector R N magnitude of vector T N

Explanation / Answer

Balancing forces in vertical direction -

As there is no motion in vertical direction hence the net force will be zero in vertical direction.

Fc - T + R = 0 ----(i)

Now about the junction the net torque will be zero as there is no angular momentum.

Fc* 7.50 = R * 3.50 ----(ii)

from equation i and ii,

R = 55.6*7.50/3.50 = 119.14 N

T = 119.14+55.6 = 174.74 N

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