Pronation of the forearm means to?

• A. Turn the hand so the palm faces up
• B. Turn the hand so the palm faces down
• C. Turn the hand so the palm faces inward
• D. Turn the hand so the palm faces outward

Answer: (B)

Pronation is the rotation of the forearm that turns the palm to face downward toward the floor. This occurs as the radius crosses over the ulna, aided by the radioulnar joints and the action of pronator muscles like the pronator teres and pronator quadratus. In practical terms, when you turn your palm down to rest on a table, that’s pronation. The opposite movement, turning the palm up, is called supination. The other described directions don’t capture the specific forearm rotation that yields a palm-down position.