Question

Most abundant mineral of vertebrate body is
A) Sodium
B) Calcium
C) Potassium
D) Iron

Answer 1

Hint:Vertebrate is also called the spinal column or the backbone which is irregular in shape. They have phosphorus and calcium as the main content along with strontium, sulphate and silica which are highly insoluble.

Complete answer:
The major minerals in the vertebrate body are calcium, sodium, magnesium, potassium and phosphorus. The elements like iron ,cobalt, chlorine, copper zinc etc are called the trace elements. The most abundant mineral of the vertebrate body is calcium. It is present in the form of calcium hydroxyapatite enlarge quantity. It consists of calcium hydroxide, calcium carbonate, calcium fluoride, calcium phosphate, and citrate. Parathyroid hormone regulates the amount of calcium.It also helps in the release of calcium from bones into the bloodstream. The increase in the parathyroid hormone level indicates that there is calcium deficiency. The increase in parathyroid hormone converts the calcium ions into deposition of bone.

Additional information: The specific component of bone and cartilage is $Ca^{2+}$ ions that is calcium phosphate and calcium sulfate. Almost 99% of the calcium content in the human body is in the form of bone. Using Atomic absorption spectroscopy, the total amount of $Ca^{2+}$ in tissues can be measured. In this method, the tissue is vaporized and combusted .

Therefore the correct answer is (B) calcium.

Note:Though calcium is a very important component in bone and is found in large quantities, the increase in the amount of salt or sodium leads to weakening of bone that causes decrease in the calcium content of bone which in turn results in osteoporosis.