# If I hook up a 50 Watt motor to my nervous system, will I burn ~40 kilocalories an hour? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 1, 2012, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-hook-up-a-50-watt-motor-to-my-nervous-system-will-i-burn-40-kilocalories-an-hour/620550 "2012-05-01T20:00:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dilton\_Doiley\_Philosopher\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f1d935/32.png) [@Dilton\_Doiley\_Philosopher\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dilton_Doiley_Philosopher_King)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-hook-up-a-50-watt-motor-to-my-nervous-system-will-i-burn-40-kilocalories-an-hour/620550/1 "2012-05-01T20:00:06Z")
Also, ignoring risk of infection, is this feasible? Will it run? ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-hook-up-a-50-watt-motor-to-my-nervous-system-will-i-burn-40-kilocalories-an-hour/620550/2 "2012-05-01T20:23:35Z")
your nervous system does not use flowing electrons. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-hook-up-a-50-watt-motor-to-my-nervous-system-will-i-burn-40-kilocalories-an-hour/620550/3 "2012-05-01T20:29:34Z")
Yes. Send us a wiring diagram for your brain and will we’ll give you precise instructions. ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-hook-up-a-50-watt-motor-to-my-nervous-system-will-i-burn-40-kilocalories-an-hour/620550/4 "2012-05-01T20:37:26Z")
Err… what would you hook it to? There’s no central battery, no bulk currents running through your nerves. Sure, there’s lots of electrical stuff going on, but it’s all cellular or sub-cellular scale. But, if you had magic fairy electrodes, there is some energy available to extract. Each neuron can be thought of as a charged capacitor, with somewhere in the ballpark of 10 pF capacitance and -80 mV. Which, going from Wiki to refresh my memory of physics, gives around 30 femtojoules per cell. Multiplied by the hundred billion neurons in your brain, and you get a mere 3 millijoules total. But you would depolarize every cell in your brain, which would be a Very Bad Thing. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-hook-up-a-50-watt-motor-to-my-nervous-system-will-i-burn-40-kilocalories-an-hour/620550/5 "2012-05-01T20:39:51Z")
> [@lazybratsche](#): > > But you would depolarize every cell in your brain, which would be a Very Bad Thing. I know a few people for whom that would be a substantial improvement. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-hook-up-a-50-watt-motor-to-my-nervous-system-will-i-burn-40-kilocalories-an-hour/620550/6 "2012-05-01T21:01:03Z")
> [@lazybratsche](#): > > But you would depolarize every cell in your brain, which would be a Very Bad Thing. What if you reversed the polarity of the neuron flow? ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-hook-up-a-50-watt-motor-to-my-nervous-system-will-i-burn-40-kilocalories-an-hour/620550/7 "2012-05-01T21:05:41Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > What if you reversed the polarity of the neuron flow? You’d Simonize your brain pan. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-hook-up-a-50-watt-motor-to-my-nervous-system-will-i-burn-40-kilocalories-an-hour/620550/8 "2012-05-01T21:11:55Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > What if you reversed the polarity of the neuron flow? All thought as you know it would stop instantly and every molecule in your brain would explode at the speed of light. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-hook-up-a-50-watt-motor-to-my-nervous-system-will-i-burn-40-kilocalories-an-hour/620550/9 "2012-05-01T22:43:14Z")
> [@The\_Hamster\_King](#): > > All thought as you know it would stop instantly and every molecule in your brain would explode at the speed of light. Unless you’re on a treadmill. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-hook-up-a-50-watt-motor-to-my-nervous-system-will-i-burn-40-kilocalories-an-hour/620550/10 "2012-05-01T23:42:15Z")
> [@Dilton\_Doiley\_Philosopher\_King](#): > > Also, ignoring risk of infection, is this feasible? Will it run? No. You’d probably get a stronger current impaling yourself with the potato clock electrodes. ---
**Author:** ![BowlOfDucks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2bfe46/32.png) [@BowlOfDucks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BowlOfDucks)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-hook-up-a-50-watt-motor-to-my-nervous-system-will-i-burn-40-kilocalories-an-hour/620550/11 "2012-05-02T02:30:10Z")
Muscles are electrically controlled, but powered chemically. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2012, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-hook-up-a-50-watt-motor-to-my-nervous-system-will-i-burn-40-kilocalories-an-hour/620550/12 "2012-05-03T05:14:34Z")
With steroids. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2012, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-hook-up-a-50-watt-motor-to-my-nervous-system-will-i-burn-40-kilocalories-an-hour/620550/13 "2012-05-03T07:03:05Z")
What if you put the body in some sort of Matrix? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2012, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-hook-up-a-50-watt-motor-to-my-nervous-system-will-i-burn-40-kilocalories-an-hour/620550/14 "2012-05-03T21:02:42Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > What if you put the body in some sort of Matrix? It’d get whipped, and told how naughty it had been, and how it was going to get the punishment it deserves?