Examine how a composite of collagen proteins and calcium can support a load of one ton

NARRATOR: Let's see what happens when a bone is placed in a weak acid for several days. Soaking the bone in acid dissolves part of the bone material, leaving behind a tough, but rubbery, substance. Made mostly of special protein fibers, it makes up about one-third of the bone's total weight. Now we'll heat a bone for several hours at about six hundred degrees centigrade. Heating the bone destroys the protein fibers but leaves behind a hard, but brittle, material. This material, rich in calcium and phosphorus, gives the bone hardness, but it breaks easily.

Bone, then, is made of two main components, besides water. Separately each component is weak, but together they form a remarkably tough and strong material, so strong that some of our bones can support loads of over one ton.