Bone · Chest

Second rib

About twice the length of the first rib and much less sharply curved, the second is the transition between the flattened first rib and the typical ribs below. Its outer surface carries a roughened tuberosity giving origin to part of serratus anterior and to the posterior scalene. Its cartilage meets the sternum exactly at the sternal angle — the ridge you can feel where the upper piece of the breastbone joins the body — which is why counting ribs on a chest begins here rather than at the collarbone.