Which plane will divide the body into anterior (front) or posterior (back) portions?

Which plane will divide the body into anterior (front) or posterior (back) portions?

• A. Frontal or Coronal Plane
• B. Sagittal Plane
• C. Horizontal Plane
• D. Transverse Plane

Answer: (A)

The front-back division of the body is defined by the frontal (coronal) plane. This vertical plane runs from head to feet and separates the anterior (front) portions from the posterior (back) portions. It’s the plane you’d imagine if you were looking at a person’s face and chest from the front, then slicing the body to reveal the front half versus the back half. Frontal and coronal are interchangeable terms for the same plane. By contrast, the sagittal plane splits the body into left and right parts, the horizontal (transverse) plane divides the body into superior (top) and inferior (bottom) parts, so those don’t produce an anterior-posterior division.

The front-back division of the body is defined by the frontal (coronal) plane. This vertical plane runs from head to feet and separates the anterior (front) portions from the posterior (back) portions. It’s the plane you’d imagine if you were looking at a person’s face and chest from the front, then slicing the body to reveal the front half versus the back half. Frontal and coronal are interchangeable terms for the same plane. By contrast, the sagittal plane splits the body into left and right parts, the horizontal (transverse) plane divides the body into superior (top) and inferior (bottom) parts, so those don’t produce an anterior-posterior division.