Bones connect at joints which allow different types of movement. There are two kinds of joints - fixed joints where bones do not move, and movable joints that enable various motions. Movable joints include hinge joints for bending, ball-and-socket joints for the greatest freedom of movement like in the shoulder, and pivot joints for rotation seen in the neck. The type of joint determines the motions individual bones can perform.

1. Bone Movements
All the appendicular bones move at
the joints. They normally serve as levers to
allow body movements like pulling and
lifting of loads.
Most of these bones can make a
variety of movements like rotate, up-and-
down, bend and stretch , close and open,
and sway.
Some parts of the bones like fingers

2. and toes can only make close and open
motions. The kind of movement bones can do
depends on the kind of joint.
The hip and shoulder can move freely
because they have ball-and-socket joints. The
arms of the body can move more freely than
legs. That is because the shoulder blade is
only loosely attached to the chest wall.
At the hip, a number of ligaments circle
the bones like a collar to keep the joint in
place.

3. Bone Joints
Bones are hard and stiff, yet they
move in different ways.
A joint is the point or part where two
or more bones connect. There are two
kinds of joints: immovable or fixed joint
and movable joint.
1.Fixed joints
In an immovable joint, the bones are
tightly held together such that they

4. cannot move. Fixed joints are seams
between bones that lie directly against
each other, or are separated only by a
thin layer of connective tissue. The joints
of the cranium are fixed.
seams

5. 2. Movable Joints
Movable joints allow bones to move.
There are three kinds of movable
joints: hinge joint, ball-and-socket
joint, and pivot joint.
a. A hinge joint allows forward and
backward movements in only one
plane. It allows “bending and
straightening” or “close and open”
movements only. Knees, fingers and
toes have hinge joints.

6. Hinge joints in the knees and fingers

7. b. A pivot joint allows rotating motion.
The head can turn from side to side
because of the pivot joint between the
first and second neck vertebrae.

8. You can rotate your forearm, sole, and
hand because of pivot joint. The
elbow, ankle, and wrist have both
pivot and hinge joints.
c. A ball-and-socket joint allows the
greatest freedom of movement. It
allows various movements such as
twisting, rotation and the up-and-
down movement. Joints in the pelvis
and shoulders are ball-and-socket.

10. Plane or Gliding joints
Although these joints appear to offer
a lot of flexibility in movement direction,
they do not offer a great distance in
movement. But they can move in many
directions and they can rotate.