Re: How much does the avg. human head weigh?

Date: Fri Apr 14 13:19:52 2000
Posted By: Erin Cram, Grad student, Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of CA, Berkeley
Area of science: Anatomy
ID: 953568604.An

Message:


Well, no one I asked was willing to chop off their head for me to do the 
experiment, so i have to give you an estimate.

Here are some statistics I found.

Weight of the skull = 2 lbs
Weight of skin = 1/4 lb
Weight of brain = 3 pounds

You can also get a good estimate of the weight of the head from the volume of 
the head.   The volume of my head (assuming my head is a sphere), is about 3000 
mL.  The head is mostly water, which weighs 1 gram per mL, therefore my head 
weighs 3 kg, which = 6.6 pounds.  (The stuff that is not water like bones and 
fat weighs LESS than water, so 6.6 pounds is probably an overestimate)



	Erin Cram, Admin MadSci Network

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