Exempting the arms, legs, and head, how much would a human torso weigh? Addendum: would a fairly strong man be able to lift a case containing seven torsos by himself?
(This information is needed for a story I’m writing. I am planning no torso transportation in the foreseeable future.)
Congratulations for creating the creepiest question I have read in a long while.
Why on Earth do you need to know this?
If you are looking for an estimate, get some measurments about yourself and estimate the smallest “box” that could hold your torso, then figure out how much water that would hold and calculate the weight.
It’s for a short story I’m working on. A creepy short story.
As a rough guess, I’d estimate that the torso of an adult of average height and slim to average build (lets say 160 pounds) is going to account for about half the total body weight; half 7 times 160 is 560 pounds - your character is probably going to need a trolley of some kind.
Then again, Mangetout, those torsos would probably have exsanguinated by the time they made it to the case (or other container). Surely there’d be some weight loss associated with that? And I agree with the others. This is truly a creepy thread.
Max.
Depends… what is it? 8 pints (pounds) or so - isn’t going to make a lot of difference. Now if the legs and pelvis are cut off together, then the contents of the abdomen might not stay inside…
well does just the shoulder-ribcage region, without pelvis/innards really constitute a torso? My guess 500-700 pounds (80-100lbs each torso, 7 torsos) although I came up with this assuming that the victims are largish mafia types and not women and children. I’m gonna say that there’s no freaking way, one guy could carry it. Although if you stuffed them in a chest freezer and then moved the freezer with a dolley I think one man could move them.
Are we talking male or female torsos here? Either way, your character will probably need a trolley, but there’s a significant difference in weight between genders.
Also, without a bottom half, wouldn’t the giblets fall out? I’d assume that the intenstines would account for quite a bit of weight/volume in your average torso. How’s your protagonist gonna deal with that?
I can’t find a reference anywhere but I am pretty sure that your legs are about half your body weight (for males at least). I imagine the arms would be less than half that - say 10%. So your torso would be about 60% of your total weight.
I recall that lifting legless patients is very easy.
Or 40% with correct arithmetic.
I remember reading somewhere that your forearms are about 6% of your bodyweight, and your upper arms are probably a little more than that, so 15% might be a more reasonable estimate for the arms.
Or 35% with additional information.
Actually on reflection that makes sense. There are less large muscle groups on the torso and the innards are mostly lighter than muscle tissue. Now if he eviscerated the 7 torsos …what would they weigh?
Like say he had dogs.
How big a sample size do you think we need for a significant number? Hmm, it’s got to be a large number of torsos. I’ll bring the electric saw instead of the gas-powered. The keys are right where I left them.
When I was younger, I used to fight it. Now, I accept that one way or another I always wind up spending Christmas Eve in the morgue.
I’m so pleased my old alma mater is leading the way in this important research. 
CT scans estimate the total trunk volume to be roughly 41.6% of body mass.
From: http://florey.biosci.uq.edu.au/BIA/Prefs.html
Pearsall, D.J.; Reid, J.G.; Livingston, L.A.
Segmental inertial parameters of the human trunk as
determined from computed tomography
Annals of Biomedical Engineering
24
2
MAR-APR
1996
198-210
DJ Pearsall
Mcgill Univ
Dept Phys Educ
475 Pine Ave W
Montreal
Pq H2W 1S4, Canada
0090-6964
body composition; body segment parameters; spine; biomechanics
POSTURE; GRAVITY; DENSITY; TISSUES
This study used computed tomography (CT) imaging to
determine in vivo mass, center of mass (CM), and moments of
inertia (Icm) about the CM of discrete segments of the
human torso. Four subjects, two males and two females,
underwent serial transverse CT scans that were collected at
l-cm intervals for the full length of the trunk. The pixel
intensity values of transverse images were correlated to
tissue densities, thereby allowing trunk section mass
properties to be calculated. The percentage of body mass
observed by vertebral levels ranged from 1.1% at Tl to 2.6%
at L5. The masses of the upper, middle, and lower trunk
segments as percentages of body mass were estimated to be
18.5, 12.2, and 10.7%, respectively. The whole trunk mass
was estimated to comprise 41.6% of the total body mass.
Transverse vertebral CM values were found to lie anterior
to their respective vertebral centroids by up to 5.0 cm in
the lower thoracic region. For the upper, middle, and lower
trunk segments, the average CM positions were found to be
25.9, 62.5, and 86.9% of the distance from the superior to
inferior ends of the trunk. The upper and middle trunk CMs
corresponded to approximately 4.0 cm anterior to T7/T8
vertebral centroid levels and 1.0 cm anterior to L3/L4
vertebral centroid levels, respectively. For the whole
trunk, the CM was 52.7% of the distance from the xiphoid
process and approximately 2.0 cm anterior to L1/L2
vertebral centroid levels. Variations in CM and Icm values
were observed between subject, but these were within the
range of previous reports of body segment parameters.
Differences from previous studies were attributable to
variations in boundary definitions, measurement techniques,
population groups, and body states (live versus cadaver)
examined. The disparity between previous findings and the
findings of this study emphasizes the need to better define
the segmental properties of the trunk so that improved
biomechanical representation of the body can be achieved.
Uh huh.
Suuuuuure it is.
A very short story… :eek: 
The average American guy weighs 87 kg (190 lbs). The average physiology student weighs 70 kg (154 lbs). Seven torsos, mixed male and female, fat and skinny may average 170 lbs * 0.416 * 7. This is roughly 480 pounds, plus the case. I’m fairly strong and I could squat this weight; in another couple of months I hope to deadlift and bench it. But few folks could get that above their head and carry it… I sure couldn’t.