People often ask strange questions just out of curiosity. One of these is how much does a person's head weigh? This question becomes especially interesting from the fact that it cannot just be taken and weighed without separating it from the body. This is not possible, since the neck holds the bulk, and the weight will be far from real.
Head weight calculation options
It is impossible to determine exactly how much a head weighs by calculation, but it is possible to calculate approximately. There are several methods, most of which consist in the initial measurement of the volume of a body part:
- Archimedes method. The most common and discussed method of measurement. To do this, you need a bucket of water, a capacity larger than a bucket and an assistant who will control the entire process. The bucket is placed in a large container and filled to the top, exactly from edge to edge. Now the comrade should help to carefully immerse the head so that the neck is not in the bowl. The volume of water displaced will almost exactly match the volume of the head. Percenterror depends on the accuracy of the experiment. Further actions are based on the assumption that the density of the rest of the body is approximately equal to the density of the head. To go this way, you need to measure the volume of your body (also displaced by water). For the residual calculation, the ratio of the volume of the head divided by the volume of the whole body is taken. The resulting number is multiplied by the weight of the whole body. The result shows how much the head weighs.
- Archimedes method 2. Only the volume of the head is measured in the above way, only the method of calculation differs (and a bathtub for immersing the whole body is not needed). This calculation assumes that the density of the head is slightly higher than the density of water, about 1070 kg/m³. To calculate the weight, you need to convert the resulting volume of the head into cubic meters and multiply by the estimated density of the head.
- Using NMR, one can measure the density of protons in each 1mm x 1mm x 1mm head cube. Then do the same with carbon, calcium and everything else. Then calculate the mass in each cube and add up to get the total mass of the head. The method is far from being as simple as the previous ones, but it has the right to life.
- Measuring the weight of a head of the same volume. Since it is impossible to separate your head from the body and stay alive to check the result, it remains to look for a head of the same volume in medical laboratories. Just by weighing it, without tricks, you can find out the almost exact weight of your head.
Weighing and counting results
Although my ownit is impossible to weigh a limb separately from the body, scientists measured how much the head of a dead person weighs. It turned out that people are very different in size. Accordingly, the heads also differ in weight. A small one can weigh 3.5 kg, and a large one can weigh over 6.3.
Since the brain of any person weighs in the aisles of 1.5 kg, it is likely that a large head means a larger, not smarter representative. The extra weight can come from the large skull, the muscles needed to support it, and other fluids.
If we discard all extremes, the weight of an average head is 4.5 - 5 kg, that is, about 8% of the total body weight. This is significantly less than what is suggested in the movie "Jerry Maguire" (only 3.6 kg).
Determination of head size
If the question of the weight of the head is more of a theoretical nature, then determining the size can be useful when buying a headdress. The difficulty lies in the fact that the head is not perfectly round, but a different circumference in each area.
To measure the size you will need a centimeter tape. If it is not at hand, you can use any strip of fabric or paper (the main thing is that it does not stretch), and measure the resulting distance with a ruler.
For measurement, the person must sit straight, without tilting his head. The tape is placed horizontally, parallel to the floor. It should pass 2 cm above the eyebrows along the frontal part, above the ears (or along their tips) and along the most protruding part of the back of the head. No need to overtighten the measuringtape, but also with an overlap is also not worth it. To get an even more accurate measurement, you can measure the girth a little above and below the original location, then calculate the average result.
Head size charts
When buying a headdress, not the girth of the head, but its size in the international system is more useful. The smallest girth is considered to be 54 cm, and the largest - 65.
| Head circumference (cm) | International value |
| 54 | XXS |
| 55 | XS |
| 56 | S |
| 57 | M |
| 58 | L |
| 59 | XL |
| 60 | XXL |
| 61 | XXL |
| 62 | XXXL |
| 63 | XXXL |
| 64 | XXXXL |
| 65 | XXXXL |
As a person grows up, their size changes significantly. For clarity, here is a table of head size by age for a boy under 16:
| Age | Low | Average impression. | High display. |
| 0 months | 33, 7 | 35, 2 | 36, 7 |
| 6 months | 42, 0 | 43, 9 | 45, 5 |
| 1 year | 45, 3 | 47, 1 | 48,6 |
| 2 years | 47, 6 | 49, 5 | 50, 9 |
| 5 years | 49, 9 | 51, 6 | 53, 3 |
| 8 years | 50, 6 | 52, 3 | 54, 0 |
| 12 years old | 51, 7 | 53, 6 | 55, 4 |
| 14 years old | 52, 6 | 54, 6 | 56, 6 |
| 16 years old | 53, 1 | 55, 0 | 56, 9 |
The most active head growth occurs in the first 3 months of life and lasts up to a year. From the increase in volume will depend on how much the head weighs. Further increase is not so fast.
