# Blood capacity of a penis. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 19, 2004, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blood-capacity-of-a-penis/275653 "2004-11-19T14:30:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![lee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lee/32/7455_2.png) [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2004, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blood-capacity-of-a-penis/275653/21 "2004-11-20T04:31:05Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Fascinating. Do you have any data on the average white female penis? It is quite a bit smaller if she has been on anti-androgens for some time. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2004, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blood-capacity-of-a-penis/275653/22 "2004-11-20T05:33:31Z")
> [@lee](#): > > It is quite a bit smaller if she has been on anti-androgens for some time. ::: applause :::: A brilliant straight answer to an ironic rhetorical question! Only on this board… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2004, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blood-capacity-of-a-penis/275653/23 "2004-11-20T21:42:36Z")
> [@Exapno Mapcase](#): > > And get your F’s. 😃 > > .1 m is 3.937 inches. A bit small for a human body. Even cubed. > > Especially cubed. Think about it. A cubic meter is a thousand liters. If the volume of a human is 0.1 cubic meters, then that’s a hundred liters. Assuming we’re somewhere around the same density as water (give or take - we’re within the same ballpark) that 0.1 cubic meters equals a hundred kilos. Since the average human probably doesn’t (yet) weigh a hundred kilos, then the 0.1 number is not a bit small - it must have been rounded up. It also means that if you store them efficiently, you could fit a lot more children onto a school bus. ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2004, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blood-capacity-of-a-penis/275653/24 "2004-11-20T23:26:30Z")
> [@Call me Frank](#): > > Maybe I’m missing something in your post, but if the question is specifcally how much _blood_ is in the erect penis, would one not follow this procedure? > > 1. Insert flaccid penis into graduated beaker filled with water > 2. Remove penis and measure how much water is left. > 3. Subtract that measurement from the original volume of water and that’s the volume of a flaccid penis. > 4. Insert erect penis into graduated beaker filled with water > 5. Remove penis and measure how much water is left. > 6. Subtract that measurement from the original volume of water and that’s the volume of an _erect_ penis. > 7. Subtract the volume obtained in step 3 from the volume obtained in step 6 and that’s the volume of blood that was transferred to the penis to make it erect. > > The reason I would suggest going to these lengths (no pun intended) is because your calculation of blood/m^3 would be an average and there could be significant differences in blood/m^3 between various body parts. /Slight hijack but relevant/ Shades of Jimi Hendrix (a client of this or similar site, according to news of the day): [http://www.cynthiaplastercaster.com/](http://www.cynthiaplastercaster.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Malodorous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47774/32.png) [@Malodorous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malodorous)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blood-capacity-of-a-penis/275653/25 "2004-11-21T00:14:05Z")
> [@Call me Frank](#): > > The reason I would suggest going to these lengths (no pun intended) is because your calculation of blood/m^3 would be an average and there could be significant differences in blood/m^3 between various body parts. **Call me Frank** , your right my method assumes that blood is spread evenly through the body, and thus is only a rough estimate. It does estimate the _total_ amount of blood, though, which is what the OP asked for. If I’m understanding you correctly, your method only finds the difference in the amount of blood in between an erect penis and a flacid one. **excalibre** , your right my estimate for the average human volume seems a bit much. It was just the first one I found on google. As to this: > [@](#): > > It also means that if you store them efficiently, you could fit a lot more children onto a school bus. I’ve been trying to sell my idea for a “child pulper” to the county school board for years. Unfortunately the de-pulpification process, which returns the children to their original, inefficent shapes is still somewhat flawed. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blood-capacity-of-a-penis/275653/26 "2004-11-21T06:24:19Z")
Couldn’t you just find an erect penis, cut it off, and squeeze it into a graduated cylinder until it is flaccid? ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blood-capacity-of-a-penis/275653/27 "2004-11-21T08:25:52Z")
> [@Malodorous](#): > > I’ve been trying to sell my idea for a “child pulper” to the county school board for years. Unfortunately the de-pulpification process, which returns the children to their original, inefficent shapes is still somewhat flawed. I don’t see why that should delay the implementation of the working module. After all, the first can opener wasn’t invented until ten years after the first canned food. ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blood-capacity-of-a-penis/275653/28 "2004-11-21T09:23:10Z")
> [@](#): > > An average (white male) erect penis is 6.2 inches long and 3.7 inches in circumference. BULLSHIT!!! I’ve read cites that say they’re closer to 5.4 inches long. Damnit. My bookmarks got wiped or I’d link the study. I found it here… someone will be a"long" eventually. ---
**Author:** ![flapcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@flapcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flapcats)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blood-capacity-of-a-penis/275653/29 "2004-11-21T10:11:00Z")
Couldn’t you take the blood pressure of a man without an erection and then take it again when he’s aroused - wouldn’t the increased volume cause a measurable drop in bp? If the ammount of blood in him was known (or estimated) couldn’t the volume of his penis be calculate? ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blood-capacity-of-a-penis/275653/30 "2004-11-21T17:09:30Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > Couldn’t you just find an erect penis, cut it off, and squeeze it into a graduated cylinder until it is flaccid? Right. Tell me again how sheep’s bladders can be employed to predict earthquakes. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blood-capacity-of-a-penis/275653/31 "2004-11-21T17:50:02Z")
> [@Excalibre](#): > > Think about it. A cubic meter is a thousand liters. If the volume of a human is 0.1 cubic meters, then that’s a hundred liters. Assuming we’re somewhere around the same density as water (give or take - we’re within the same ballpark) that 0.1 cubic meters equals a hundred kilos. Since the average human probably doesn’t (yet) weigh a hundred kilos, then the 0.1 number is not a bit small - it must have been rounded up. > > It also means that if you store them efficiently, you could fit a lot more children onto a school bus. You’re being whooshed. As **Malodorous** noted I was jokingly putting the parentheses in a different place, making it (0.1m)[sup]3[/sup]. That’s 0.001 cubic meter, or _one_ liter. There’s a joke in here about dense packing of penises, but I’m not going there. ---
**Author:** ![flapcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@flapcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flapcats)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2004, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blood-capacity-of-a-penis/275653/32 "2004-11-22T14:39:01Z")
Could someone work it out for me in ml - assuming 5.5 is the average. thanks. ---
**Author:** ![flapcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@flapcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flapcats)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2004, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blood-capacity-of-a-penis/275653/33 "2004-11-22T14:51:07Z")
Sorry - that was rude. I’m under pressure to come up with a number. If I get the time I’ll work it out myself. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2004, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blood-capacity-of-a-penis/275653/34 "2004-11-22T15:15:03Z")
> [@flapcats](#): > > Sorry - that was rude. I’m under pressure to come up with a number. If I get the time I’ll work it out myself. I already calculated the volume above. Just multiply the cross-sectional area (pi times diameter in cm) by length in cm, which will give you cubic cm, which equals ml. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2004, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blood-capacity-of-a-penis/275653/35 "2004-11-22T23:56:07Z")
Chronos Kitchen Labs being sorely underfunded, our facility unfortunately does not contain graduated cylindars of a size appropriate to perform this experiment. Improvisations in equipment were therefore necessary. The apparatus for this experiment consisted of the following: 1 Cleveland Indians souvenir beverage cup, volume approx. 24 fluid ounces 1 plastic measuring cup, volume 1 American cup (8 fluid ounces 1 plastic measuring cup, volume 1/8 American cup (1 fluid ounce) 1 adult male human penis, 27.5 years old, Caucasian 1 adult male human scrotum, same specs as above 1 bathtub Sufficient quantities of DHMO Because of the lack of a measuring vessel of appropriate dimension in Chronos Kitchen Labs, the Cleveland Indians souvenir cup was used as the displacement chamber. The displacement chamber was filled to the brim with DHMO, and placed in the bathtub (which served as overflow containment system), where the human penis was lowered into the displacement chamber to the maximum extent allowed (the edges of the displacement chamber were flush with the surface of the skin surrounding the experimental specimen). Experimental difficulties were found in attempting to lower the penis alone into the chamber, and the scrotum was therefore lowered into the chamber as well. The staff of Chronos Kitchen Labs recognizes that this may introduce random error into the measured results; however, since the scrotum was included in both trials, no systematic effect should be observed in the difference. After removal of the specimen, the displacement chamber was refilled using the measuring cups, to determine the volume of DHMO displaced by the specimen (and therefore of the specimen itself). The first trial was performed with the specimen in a flaccid state. On measuring, 1.0 cups (8.0 fluid ounces) of DHMO were displaced in this experiment. The experimental specimen was then exposed to a set of visual, auditory, and tactile stimuli until the specimen reached a turgid state, whereupon the experiment was repeated. On this second trial, the measurement procedure was repeated, and it was found that 1 cup 6.1 ounces (14.1 fluid ounces) of DHMO were displaced. The sample size for this experiment was 100% of the specimens available to Chronos Kitchen Labs for study, and we may therefore reasonably conclude that specimens in this population increase in volume by an average of 6.1 fluid ounces. Probable sources for error in this experiment include spillage of DHMO from the displacement chamber while specimen was inserted and measurement error in reading volumes from the measuring cups. However, since these sources of error can be expected to have applied to the same degree in both trials, a determination cannot be made whether this measurement represents an underestimate or overestimate of the true value. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blood-capacity-of-a-penis/275653/36 "2004-11-23T00:01:42Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Chronos Kitchen Labs being sorely underfunded, our facility unfortunately does not contain graduated cylindars of a size appropriate to perform this experiment. Improvisations in equipment were therefore necessary. The apparatus for this experiment consisted of the following: > > 1 Cleveland Indians souvenir beverage cup, volume approx. 24 fluid ounces > 1 plastic measuring cup, volume 1 American cup (8 fluid ounces > 1 plastic measuring cup, volume 1/8 American cup (1 fluid ounce) > 1 adult male human penis, 27.5 years old, Caucasian > 1 adult male human scrotum, same specs as above > 1 bathtub > Sufficient quantities of DHMO GOD I love this message board! ---
**Author:** ![Call\_me\_Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Call\_me\_Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Call_me_Frank)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blood-capacity-of-a-penis/275653/37 "2004-11-23T03:55:19Z")
**Chronos** , you measured the displacement of your genitalia in both a flaccid and turgid state and then you posted the results of those measurements on an internet message board for all to see. That took balls, man. …someone was bound to say it sooner or later… ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blood-capacity-of-a-penis/275653/38 "2004-11-23T04:07:07Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > we may therefore reasonably conclude that specimens in this population increase in volume by an average of 6.1 fluid ounces. Substantially more than my theoretical calculation of 3.5 fluid ounces, but not too far out of the ballpark (or Cleveland Indians souvenir cup). Still, it’s somewhat less than half a pint. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blood-capacity-of-a-penis/275653/39 "2004-11-23T04:08:52Z")
Oh, and Bravo! That’s in the true spirit of the SDSAB! but I ain’t repeating it. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Llama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a698b9/32.png) [@The\_Llama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Llama)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blood-capacity-of-a-penis/275653/40 "2004-11-23T07:56:59Z")
My measuring device was only accurate to increments of 1 ounce. 6 ounces was the difference here, too. I used a narrower glass than the 24 oz cup, so there was no scrotum measured. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blood-capacity-of-a-penis/275653.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blood-capacity-of-a-penis/275653.md?page=3)