> What's the largest bone in the human body? And the answer: femur. Also known as the thighbone, the femur is the largest, longest, and strongestbone in the human body. The top of the bone forms a ball-and-socket joint withthe hip bone and is held in place by ligaments.Photo credit: public domain.The femur is the longest of all the long bones inyour body (which also include the tibia, fibula, metatarsals, and more). Butbeyond that, it is also the strongest bone, and can withstand up to 30x yourbody weight. This means that the femur is not just the strongest bone – itknocks the other bones out of the park with its staggering average ability tosupport roughly 6,000 pounds of compressive force!Naturally, the femur is a weight-bearing bone in your body. The femur and thetibia (shinbone) team up with the bones of the foot to hold the weight of thebody, helping us fight against gravity. Interestingly, although it does helpstabilize the lower leg muscles, the fibula (calf bone) isn’t weight-bearinglike the femur and tibia.Unlike many other bones in your extremities, your femur is actually orientedabout 10-15 degrees away from a vertical line. This is because it meets your hipat an angle slightly off of that of the knee, so it must be oriented in adirection that supports weight while maintaining full motion. Because the femalepelvis is typically wider than the male pelvis, females' femurs tend to sit at alarger angle.Did you know?The femur actually accounts for 1/4th of an individual's height!