# How many people connected in series to power a lightbulb? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 27, 2010, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-connected-in-series-to-power-a-lightbulb/530586 "2010-02-27T00:29:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-connected-in-series-to-power-a-lightbulb/530586/21 "2010-03-01T04:07:05Z")
> [@figure9](#): > > That means we would need to have 5000 people to supply enough current. I’m not an engineer or scientist BTW, so my logic and math are likely wrong. Still that’s my best guess. Also isn’t lithium highly reactive? > > Could people hold it in their hands or have it plugged into them? Thank you for working on the problem of the people battery. **Sage rat** has directed me to the l[emon battery](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemon_battery), and that is it, as you see also. It seems it is used to teach children. //Sigh// I’ve passed the problem by an E.E. friend of mine. He told me the problem was “trivial,” went through for me the principles he learned in 5th grade, and told me to go look up “the relevant data” (are all MIT engineers like that?). I really _did_ want to know how many people it would take. The reason “I” chose lithium was because of it’s place in the[standard electrode potential data page](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_of_standard_electrode_potentials). I did this because the E.E. told me to…:o It is used in batteries therefore for stuff I have no fucking idea why, although I understood it in general when he explained it. Why I would like the actual number in my OP is because a) people here are smarter than I am, b) I’m a bore at parties and, c) _ **most** _ important, I’m a Doper!😃 What I forgot to add in the OP was the length of the lithium “plugs” (i.e., how much total contact with the body): Call the height of the cylinder one inch. About your question re holding the lithium in your hands–how to get an appropriate reading of the charge from the body? The epidermis has significant resistance, for one thing. Therefore, plugs. Inserting “plugs” of sharpened-tip metal is painful. One’s mouth is too moist and saline (although I suppose that could be factored out). I have no idea of the acidic content of vaginas, and obviously that would not make the analysis gender neutral. You’re correct, I don’t know how to keep the [lithium](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium) coils chemically intact. Schmear 'em with mineral oil? Suggestions? OK, my proposal is that, assuming an answer to the above problem is found, each person would curl the exposed wire into a flat coil, and place it into his rectum, avoiding free air (the lithium would oxidize, tarnishing your bowels at the same time. Maybe that’s a good thing. But I digress.). That’s my experimental proposal should it ever come to that. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-connected-in-series-to-power-a-lightbulb/530586/22 "2010-03-01T04:16:14Z")
> [@figure9](#): > > The 1.5V figure is totally made up since I have no idea how much voltage a lithium/person/copper battery cell would have. Now we need current. From Sage Rat’s link I think the best we could hope for would be 100 microAmps per cell. That means we would need to have 5000 people to supply enough current. […] Still that’s my best guess. Long story short: MIT E.E. guy estimated human-body V at 0.5. Came up with ca. 10,000 people; a few hundred in series, the rest in parallel. What’s up wit dat? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-connected-in-series-to-power-a-lightbulb/530586.md?page=1)