Biology · Locomotion and Movement · NEET
Connective tissue is defined by having living cells spread out inside a large non-living MATRIX, not by being soft. Bone fits this exactly: living bone cells sit inside a hard matrix. Because that matrix is packed with calcium salts, the tissue becomes very hard, but it is still a connective tissue. NCERT calls both bone and cartilage 'specialised connective tissues'.
Bone matrix is VERY HARD due to CALCIUM salts deposited in it. Cartilage matrix is only SLIGHTLY PLIABLE (it can bend a little) due to CHONDROITIN salts. So both are matrix-based, but the type of salt decides hardness: calcium makes bone rigid, chondroitin keeps cartilage flexible. This one line is enough for most NEET one-mark questions.
The mineral in the matrix. Bone is hardened by CALCIUM salts, so it cannot bend and gives strong support. Cartilage has CHONDROITIN salts instead, which do not harden it fully, so it stays pliable and can act as a cushion (for example at joint ends and rib tips). Same idea of matrix, different salt, opposite feel.
Yes. Cartilage is a specialised connective tissue with a solid but pliable matrix and cells (chondrocytes) embedded in it. Students get confused because it does not 'connect' two organs in an obvious way, but connective tissue is defined by cells-in-matrix, not by joining things. Bone and cartilage together form the skeletal (support) connective tissues.
Yes, the CELLS are alive; only the MATRIX around them is non-living. This is true for all connective tissues. In bone the living cells sit in tiny spaces inside the hard calcified matrix and are still supplied by blood, which is why a bone can grow, repair and remodel. So 'hard matrix' does not mean 'dead tissue'.
Try the real previous-year questions from this chapter — each with the answer and a full solution.
Calcium salts. They are deposited in the bone matrix and make it very hard, giving strong support to the body.
Chondroitin salts. They keep the cartilage matrix slightly pliable (bendable), so cartilage can act as a flexible cushion.
Yes. NCERT states that bone and cartilage are specialised connective tissues, because both have living cells embedded in a large matrix.
The human skeletal system is made up of 206 bones and a few cartilages, grouped into the axial and appendicular skeleton.
At the ends of long bones (joints), the tip of the nose, the outer ear, and connecting the true ribs to the sternum (hyaline cartilage). These pliable spots reduce friction and give flexible support.
