The surface of the superior articular will work right above the inferior surface in a vertebra. This is not true in the atlas.
A zygapophysis is an articular process of a vertebra.
The joints in the back are called facet joints. Each vertebra has two sets of facet joints. One pair faces upward (superior articular facet) and one downward (inferior articular facet). There is one joint on each side (right and left). Facet joints are hinge-like and link vertebrae together. They are located at the back of the spine (posterior).
The inferior costal facet and superior costal facet are the points on the thoracic vertebrae at which the ribs articulate.
headThe pedicle of the rib articulates with the transverse process of the thoracic vertebra.
The Thoracic Vertebrae have such features and are in the correct position to articulate with the ribs correctly (the cervical vertebra are too high to touch the ribs in the neck region, and the lumbar, sacral and coccyx are all too low to intersect the ribs!)Thoracic Vertebrae
There are four: one joint with the vertebra that is superior and one with the vertebra which is inferior plus superior and inferior processes (2) come off the pedicles. These articulate with the articular processes of the vertebrae above and below.
the inferior articular facet of the vertebra above it
The inferior articular process or facet of the vertebra above.
A zygapophysis is an articular process of a vertebra.
The apophyseal joints are synovial joints in the vertebral column, between the superior or cranial articular process of one vertebra and the inferior or caudal articular process of the vertebra directly above it. See the link below:
The joints in the back are called facet joints. Each vertebra has two sets of facet joints. One pair faces upward (superior articular facet) and one downward (inferior articular facet). There is one joint on each side (right and left). Facet joints are hinge-like and link vertebrae together. They are located at the back of the spine (posterior).
The inferior costal facet and superior costal facet are the points on the thoracic vertebrae at which the ribs articulate.
L2
headThe pedicle of the rib articulates with the transverse process of the thoracic vertebra.
the Vertebral end plate is the section of the vertebra that in faces with the spinal disk the inferior end plate is the bottom side of a vertebra. so the Anterior section of the inferior end plate of C# or T# would be the inside if the person side of the bottom side of the vertebra.
foramen magnum
Most vertebrae have 3 processes. The spinous process, which is the one that comes straight off of your vertebral column, can actually be felt . You can feel this one particularly well at the base of your neck (this is the 7th Cervical vertebra, also known as Vertebra prominens). The very first vertebra, C1, also known at Atlas, does not have a spinous process. Each vertebra has two transverse processes which are on either side of the spinous processes. All of these processes are important for muscle attachments for movement of the head, neck and torso.