1. University of Pennsylvania Department of Bioengineering Aims/Objective & Hypothesis: Fracture Energy of De-calcified Chicken Bones Group WA2 Central Hypothesis: The fracture energy required to break a de-calcified chicken bone will be significantly less than the fracture energy required to break a calcified bone. Sub-Objectives: 1. To determine the failure energy required to fracture chicken bones using a pendulum impactor device. 2. To become familiar with the process of de-calcifying chicken bones.

2. University of Pennsylvania Department of Bioengineering Methods, Protocol & Equipment: 1. Remove both femurs from each of five chickens 2. Separate bones into 2 groups: C-group and D-group (a) C-Group bones- wrap in damp paper towels (b) D-group bones- soak in 375 mL of DeCal sol’n for 30 mins. 3. Calibrate pendulum and determine center of mass 4. Test surrogates 5. Use pendulum to impact C-group bones and determine respective fracture energies 6. Repeat procedure for D-group bones (after 30 mins. in sol’n) 7. Use t-test (one-tailed, α=0.05) to compare groups’ fracture energies

3. University of Pennsylvania Department of Bioengineering Proposed Results/Findings/Deliverables: Fracture energies of de-calcified bones are less than fracture energies of calcified bones. t-Test (one-tailed, α=0.05) confirms that average fracture energy of de- calcified bones is significantly less than average fracture energy of calcified bones.

4. University of Pennsylvania Department of Bioengineering Potential Pitfalls: Possible Solutions Buy whole chickens, assume symmetry Regulate time in solution Incubate bones at 39°C (body temperature of chicken) Potential Pitfalls Bones start with different amounts of calcium Correlation with cross-sectional area Over de-calcification Inaccurate representation of actual in-vivo conditions

5. University of Pennsylvania Department of Bioengineering Materials and Budget & Justification: Major: Impact pendulum apparatus, with rotational potentiometer Lab: Knives and cutting board Wood surrogates Horizontal level DC Power Supply 5 Beakers (500mL) Supplies: Ruler for propping pendulum Tongs Newly Purchased: 2 quarts of Decal Stat TM from Decal Chemical Corporation [$32.00] Five Lancaster Brand Whole Oven Roasters [$90.00] Mini-incubator from Braintree Scientific, Inc. [$308.00] TOTAL EXPENSES: $430.00