Hi,
I'm curious as to what the volume of one pound of fat would be. Is there any kind of comparison to any kind of object? I just want to know this for curiousities sake, not for anything practical. I was looking up some info on the Internet, and I couldn't find anything.

To find the volume you first need to find the density.

Human fat 0.94 g/ml (water has a density of 1g/ml for reference)

Then you have to convert grams to lbs and ml into something a little easier to work with - say cubic inches.

1 gram = 0.00220462262 pound

so

Human fat = 0.0021 pounds/ml (shortened because I felt like it)

now you have to convert ml into cubic inches

1 milliliter = 0.0610237441 cubic inch

so

Human fat = 0.034 pounds/cubic inch

so if you want the volume of 1 pound of fat you get

29 cubic inches

sounds like a lot right? I mean that's a strip of fat that is 1"x1"x29"!

Well lets look at it in gallons

1 gallon = 230.6 cubic inches

so 1 pound of fat is about 13% of a gallon or about 7.8 pounds/gallon

water is 8.35 pounds/gallon btw

lots of rounding error here but you get the idea

Yes I really am that damned bored.

To contrast, human muscle tissue weighs about 1.15 gm/cubic centimeter.

So, performing a whole bunch of conversions, 1-lb. of human muscle would be contained in 23.81 cubic inches. Think of this visually as a "cube".

http://www.ctcms.nist.gov/wulffman/shape_pics/cube.gif

So a "cube" of muscle would be approximately 2.88-inches on each side and weigh in at 1-lb. To contrast, a "cube" of fat would be 3.09-inches on each side. While muscle does weigh more than fat, it's not that big a difference, after all, is it?

Any way you look at it, they both seem quite dense to me, when you consider that something roughly three inches tall/wide weighs 1-pound.

A rule of thumb I read a while back (that seemed to fit my weight loss trend) was that 4-lbs. of fat lost globally is roughly equivalent to 1-inch off your waist. So to give you an idea of how much volume you have on your waist for each inch of fat you carry, that would be a "cube" 4.90-inches on each side; just under 5-inches tall.

Math is the coolest thing ever. I've actually given serious thought about going back and finishing my education credits so I can teach mathematics to kids in school. I love math... gosh, what'd give you that idea? (hint... hint... I'm an engineer...)

-R

There is a website listed in last month's MensFitness or MensHealth. You can order your own personal pound of fat from it as a reminder of what you don't want in your body. I can't find it on google, but if I get a chance to look at the magazine, I'll post it.


Hi,
I'm curious as to what the volume of one pound of fat would be. Is there any kind of comparison to any kind of object? I just want to know this for curiousities sake, not for anything practical. I was looking up some info on the Internet, and I couldn't find anything.

Check this out:
http://www.nutritionadvisor.com/fat01.jpg

There is a website listed in last month's MensFitness or MensHealth. You can order your own personal pound of fat from it as a reminder of what you don't want in your body. I can't find it on google, but if I get a chance to look at the magazine, I'll post it.

I want to buy this but it's pretty expensive.

http://www.bodytrends.com/ant/fat_replica.htm

Here's another URL showing both 1lb and 5lb replicas of fat and muscle.

http://anatomical.com/product.asp?pn=WA7173