Woody says "Ew, ew, knuckle cracking,
I hate that sound. You'll hurt your fingers."
Cliff is an expert on the topic of
knuckle cracking and is more than happy to correct Woody.
Woodrow,
knuckle cracking is relatively harmless. Actually when you
crack your knuckles what you're doing is really breaking the
sound barrier. What you hear is actually a tiny finger-sized
sonic boom.
(Frasier: "Well Cliff, you're partly
right.")
Yeah? Which
part?. (Frasier: "The
phenomenon of knuckle cracking is relatively harmless but, in
fact, the sound you're hearing is not a cracking at all, but
rather a popping of tiny gas bubbles imploding in the synovial
fluid of the Metacarpal-Phalangeal Joint")
The truth:
Basically Frasier answered this one for us so will just throw
some odd facts at you.
The speed of sound at sea level = 340.29 M/S or 761 MPH.
Synovial fluid is a thin, stringy fluid found in the cavities
of synovial joints.
Synovial joints are the most common and most moveable type of
joint in the body.
Metacarpal means any bone of the hand between the wrist and
fingers.
A Phalangeal Joint is any of the hinge joints between the
phalanges of the fingers or toes.
