What is the weight of all living humans?

Answer 1

We cannot give either a precise or a fixed figure for this question. People vary and populations are changing all the time. Assuming that the average mass of a human is about 50 kilogrammes, and that there are about 7 000 000 000 people on Earth, that would give us about 350 000 000 000 kilogrammes. That is 350 000 000 tonnes, enough to load 700 to 1400 supertanker ships. If we stood in a straight line, one person per metre, the line would extend nearly 200 times round the equator, and what with new babies being born at a rate of 60 000 000 per year, the line would be 60 000 kilometres longer per year, another one and a half times round the planet. However, if we stood in a square, at 1 square metre per person, we would only cover about a square 84 kilometres on a side. Some cities are bigger than that. Babies being born would add another 2 square kilometres every year. But if we were packed in like cordwood we would fit into a cube 705 metres on a side. That would be a big building, about 240 stories high and less than half a mile on a side, but you could lose it in the Grand Canyon or the Sahara Desert if you were not careful.