As a bone increases in diameter,what happens to the medullary cavity?
A)The medullary cavity increases in diameter because bone matrix is removed by osteoblasts.
B)The medullary cavity increases in diameter because bone matrix is removed by osteoclasts.
C)The medullary cavity decreases in diameter because bone matrix is added by osteoclasts.
D)The medullary cavity decreases in diameter because bone matrix is added by osteoblasts.
E)The medullary cavity diameter does not change but fills in with more bone marrow.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

As a bone increases in diameter, bone matrix is added to the outer surface by osteoblasts. This causes the medullary cavity to expand as the bone grows. To compensate for this expansion, osteoclasts are stimulated to resorb bone matrix from the inner surface of the bone, thus enlarging the medullary cavity. Therefore, the correct answer is B - the medullary cavity increases in diameter because bone matrix is removed by osteoclasts.

As a Bone Increases in Diameter,what Happens to the Medullary