Which term best describes bone adapting to stresses placed upon it?

• A. Hooke's Law
• B. Wolff's Law
• C. Bernoulli's Principle
• D. Newton's Law

Answer: (B)

Bones adapt to the loads they experience. Wolff's Law states that bone tissue remodels in response to mechanical stress, becoming stronger and greater in mass where it is regularly loaded and resorbing where it is not used. This adaptive remodeling is driven by osteocytes sensing strain and signaling osteoblasts and osteoclasts to form or resorb bone, respectively. As a result, the architecture of bone changes to better withstand habitual forces. In contrast, Hooke's Law describes a linear stress–strain relationship in elastic materials, Bernoulli's Principle relates to pressure changes from fluid flow, and Newton's Laws cover general motion and forces, none of which specifically describe bone adapting to stress.