Anatomy
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This anatomy quiz has 192 free questions with answers and starts with easy anatomy trivia questions almost anyone can answer, such as which organ pumps blood, which bone is the collarbone and how many teeth adults have, then works up to the femur, the hyoid, the stapes and the nephron for players who want a real test. It is a good fit for classrooms, nursing and pre-med study groups, pub quiz rounds and anyone curious about how the body is put together. Every question is multiple choice with an explanation that adds one extra fact. Each answer has been checked against a primary reference such as an anatomy textbook or an encyclopaedia entry, so what you learn here is worth remembering.
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Q 01Which bone is the longest in the human body?
Femur
The femur, or thigh bone, is the longest and strongest bone in the body; it is so sturdy that in a healthy adult it usually takes a car crash or similar force to break it.
Q 02Which organ is both the heaviest internal organ and the largest gland in the human body?
Liver
The liver weighs about 1.5 kg and can regrow lost tissue, which is why a living donor can give away part of theirs: both portions grow back to normal size.
Q 03Which bone is the largest sesamoid bone in the human body, meaning it sits embedded within a tendon?
Patella
The patella, or kneecap, grows inside a tendon and works like a pulley: by holding the tendon away from the joint it adds leverage, so the knee straightens with less effort.
Q 04What is the primary function of red blood cells in the human body?
Transport oxygen
Transport oxygen is the job: red cells are packed with iron-rich haemoglobin that binds oxygen in the lungs and releases it as the cells squeeze through capillaries.
Q 05What is the outermost layer of the human skin called?
Epidermis
The epidermis has no blood vessels of its own, and its surface is a layer of dead, flattened cells that flake away constantly and are replaced from below.
Q 06What is the microscopic structural and functional unit of the kidney?
Nephron
The nephron comes about a million to each kidney, more working tissue than the body strictly needs, which is why most people can live healthily with only one kidney.
Q 07Which of the twelve pairs of cranial nerves carries the sense of smell?
Olfactory
Olfactory nerve fibres reach the brain through a sieve of tiny holes in the skull above the nose, so a head injury can damage them and leave a person permanently unable to smell.
Q 08What is the tough, fibrous outer layer of the eye that is commonly known as the 'white of the eye'?
Sclera
The sclera is the tough white coat that holds the eyeball's shape; the six muscles that turn the eye are anchored to its surface, so it is what they pull on to shift your gaze.
Q 09Which structure, known as the voice box, houses the vocal cords?
Larynx
The larynx grows under testosterone at puberty: the vocal folds inside it lengthen and thicken, which is why male voices usually settle at a deeper pitch.
Q 10Which small gland, hanging by a stalk from the base of the brain, controls many of the body's other hormone glands?
Pituitary gland
The pituitary gland also makes growth hormone, which sets how tall we grow: too much of it in childhood causes gigantism.
Q 11What type of tissue primarily connects muscle to bone?
Tendons
Tendons transmit the pull of muscle contraction to bone; ligaments, the usual mix-up, join bone to bone.
Q 12Which horseshoe-shaped neck bone is the only human bone not connected to another bone?
Hyoid
The hyoid hangs from muscles and ligaments alone, anchoring the tongue; it is so well shielded that in an adult a fractured hyoid is a classic sign of strangulation.
Q 13Which glands make the natural oil that keeps skin and hair supple and can clog pores into acne?
Sebaceous glands
Sebaceous glands empty into hair follicles; the hormone changes of puberty can make them overproduce, and when excess oil and dead cells plug a follicle the result is acne.
Q 21Which transparent structure behind the pupil changes shape to focus light on the retina?
Lens
The lens changes shape as the ring of muscle around it tightens or relaxes; it stiffens with age, which is why most people need reading glasses from middle age.
Q 22Which blood type is the universal recipient for red cell transfusions?
AB+
AB+ already carries A and B antigens plus the Rh factor, so the immune system has nothing new to attack; O- is the universal donor.
Q 23What are the three protective membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord collectively called?
Meninges
Meninges come in three layers, the tough dura, the web-like arachnoid and the delicate pia mater; when an infection inflames them, the result is meningitis.
Q 14How many bones are typically found in the adult human skeleton?
206
206 is the usual adult count; a newborn has many more separate bones, which fuse together through childhood and adolescence.
Q 15Which part of the brain is primarily responsible for balance and coordination?
Cerebellum
The cerebellum, the 'little brain' at the back of the head, does not initiate movement but fine-tunes its coordination, precision and timing.
Q 16What type of muscle tissue is found in the walls of internal organs like the stomach and intestines?
Smooth
Smooth muscle is named for lacking the stripes of skeletal muscle; nerves and hormones outside conscious control drive it, so digestion carries on without your having to think about it.
Q 17Which is the smallest bone in the human body?
Stapes
The stapes is the last in a chain of three tiny bones that carry sound inward; its flat footplate sits in a small window and passes the vibration on to the inner ear.
Q 18Which organ is primarily responsible for filtering waste products from the blood and producing urine?
Kidney
Kidneys strain far more fluid out of the blood than they get rid of: almost all of it is taken straight back, and only the small remainder leaves as urine.
Q 19Which type of blood vessel carries deoxygenated blood back to the heart?
Veins
Veins return blood to the heart, and most carry blood low in oxygen; the pulmonary veins are the exception, bringing freshly oxygenated blood back from the lungs.
Q 20What is the brain's wrinkled outer layer, the seat of thought and language, called?
Cerebral cortex
The cerebral cortex is a thin sheet of grey matter; it is folded into ridges and grooves because folding packs far more surface into the limited space inside the skull.
Q 24Which heart chambers pump blood out to the lungs and body?
Ventricles
Ventricles are the lower pair of chambers; the left one has the thicker wall because it must drive blood round the whole body, while the right only supplies the lungs next door.
Q 25Which arteries supply the heart's own muscle with blood, causing a heart attack when one is blocked?
Coronary arteries
Coronary arteries run over the surface of the heart; unusually, they fill mainly between beats, because each contraction squeezes the branches buried in the heart wall.
Q 26The humerus is a long bone found in which part of the body?
Upper arm
The humerus is the bone of the upper arm; a nerve runs just under the skin behind its lower end, and knocking it there sets off the tingling 'funny bone' feeling.
Q 27Which bone is commonly known as the collarbone?
Clavicle
The clavicle, or collarbone, is the most commonly broken bone in the body: the force of a fall onto an outstretched arm or the point of the shoulder runs along it until it gives way.
Q 28What are the millions of tiny air sacs in the lungs, where oxygen enters the blood, called?
Alveoli
Alveoli stay open thanks to surfactant, a film that lowers the surface tension of their moist lining; babies born very early have not yet made enough of it and struggle to breathe.
Q 29Which part of the eye widens or narrows the pupil to control how much light gets in?
Iris
The iris is the coloured ring of the eye; its muscle shrinks the pupil in bright light and opens it in the dark, and its pattern is distinctive enough to identify a person by scan.
Q 30What is the medical name for the windpipe?
Trachea
The trachea is kept from collapsing by C-shaped rings of cartilage; a band of muscle bridges the open back of each ring and tightens during a cough, narrowing the tube to force the air out.