# When will the mass of the deceased equal the mass of the Earth?? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 19, 2003, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-mass-of-the-deceased-equal-the-mass-of-the-earth/219978 "2003-12-19T15:47:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-mass-of-the-deceased-equal-the-mass-of-the-earth/219978/1 "2003-12-19T15:47:40Z")
Starting with todays population and weighing each person at the time of death, at what time will the weights of all the deceased add up to the weight of the Earth?? ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-mass-of-the-deceased-equal-the-mass-of-the-earth/219978/2 "2003-12-19T16:10:02Z")
Assuming a life expectancy of 60 years, a world population of 6 billion, and an average body mass of 65 kg, [920,000,000,000,000 years](http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=mass+of+the+earth+*+60+years+%2F+%286+billion+*+65kg%29+in+years&btnG=Search) from now. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-mass-of-the-deceased-equal-the-mass-of-the-earth/219978/3 "2003-12-19T16:13:38Z")
'Course over the next 920,000,000,000,000 years most of those stiffs are going to lighten up a bit. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-mass-of-the-deceased-equal-the-mass-of-the-earth/219978/4 "2003-12-19T16:17:17Z")
I see dead people… everywhere. > [@](#): > > **most of those stiffs are going to lighten up a bit.** Not to mention get rather, how can I put it, recycled. Mmmm, corpse dust. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-mass-of-the-deceased-equal-the-mass-of-the-earth/219978/5 "2003-12-19T18:03:27Z")
**Achernar** , was the exponential population growth considered? ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-mass-of-the-deceased-equal-the-mass-of-the-earth/219978/6 "2003-12-19T18:17:48Z")
I’m not sure what is the meaning of the question, since the deceased (and the living alike) are made of the "materials’ which constitute the earth and anyway are “recycled”. So, it’s not like the deceased would add anything to the planet’s weight. And anyway, assuming the question make sense, it totally depends on the growth rate of the population in the future, as already mentionned. ---
**Author:** ![gluteus\_maximus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f17d59/32.png) [@gluteus\_maximus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gluteus_maximus)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-mass-of-the-deceased-equal-the-mass-of-the-earth/219978/7 "2003-12-19T18:20:02Z")
Never. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Nothing added, nothing gained. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-mass-of-the-deceased-equal-the-mass-of-the-earth/219978/8 "2003-12-19T18:41:05Z")
I assumed constant population. Exponential growth is unrealistic, but let’s say we assume population is exponential with doubling time DT = 40 years. How long it takes depends on the distribution of lifetimes in this case, but let’s assume everybody lives exactly LT = 60 years. Call R the ratio of the mass of the earth to the total mass of people now (=15,000,000,000). Then the amount of time is equal to: DT × log[sub]2[/sub]((2[sup]LT/DT[/sup] - 1)R + 1) = [1387 years](http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=40*log%28%282%5E%2860%2F40%29-1%29*15%2C000%2C000%2C000%2B1%29%2Flog%282%29&btnG=Search) ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-mass-of-the-deceased-equal-the-mass-of-the-earth/219978/9 "2003-12-19T18:43:16Z")
:smack: R = 15,000,000,000, **000**. That makes the total time = 1786 years. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-mass-of-the-deceased-equal-the-mass-of-the-earth/219978/10 "2003-12-19T19:12:26Z")
Oh, very good. That was exactly the answer I was looking for. It even sounds realistic, 1,786 years. Could you nail down the exact day? How bout the exact minute? Just kidding… Thanks. **clair, gluteous** , it is a hypothetical Q, obviously. I know the material is recycled and all that. **Achernar** seemed to understand it…😉 ---
**Author:** ![gluteus\_maximus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f17d59/32.png) [@gluteus\_maximus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gluteus_maximus)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-mass-of-the-deceased-equal-the-mass-of-the-earth/219978/11 "2003-12-19T19:12:32Z")
**Achernar** , where is that mass coming from? What about the mass of all of the deceased bacteria and viruses and plankton and molds and fungi and plants and insects and fish and amphibians and reptiles and birds and non-human mammals? (sorry if I left anybody out) **Petroleum will conserve 'em.** As for the OP’s question… Never. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-mass-of-the-deceased-equal-the-mass-of-the-earth/219978/12 "2003-12-19T19:19:34Z")
Man, I did say it was unrealistic. Assuming we start our interstellar expansion right now, and colonize every star system we come to, by that time, every star within 1786 light years will have some tens of thousands times the current population of the Earth around it. I don’t think we can count on tens of thousands of inhabited worlds per star. ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-mass-of-the-deceased-equal-the-mass-of-the-earth/219978/13 "2003-12-19T19:26:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jjimm \* > \*\*I see dead people… everywhere.Not to mention get rather, how can I put it, recycled. > \*\* Food for worms, so to speak. ---
**Author:** ![gluteus\_maximus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f17d59/32.png) [@gluteus\_maximus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gluteus_maximus)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-mass-of-the-deceased-equal-the-mass-of-the-earth/219978/14 "2003-12-19T19:31:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Achernar \* > \*\*Man, I did say it was unrealistic. Assuming we start our interstellar expansion right now, and colonize every star system we come to, by that time, every star within 1786 light years will have some tens of thousands times the current population of the Earth around it. I don’t think we can count on tens of thousands of inhabited worlds per star. \*\* Huh? HUH??? Our interstellar expansion right now is exactly ZERO, you do realize? **When will the mass of the deceased equal the mass of the Earth??** The OP did say _Earth_, did it not? When did the OP’s question get expanded into infinite worlds? ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-mass-of-the-deceased-equal-the-mass-of-the-earth/219978/15 "2003-12-19T19:38:53Z")
Infinite? I’m just talking about a billion or so. Yes, the OP said the dead sum to the mass of the Earth. Where did the OP say we stay on Earth for this whole time? ---
**Author:** ![gluteus\_maximus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f17d59/32.png) [@gluteus\_maximus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gluteus_maximus)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-mass-of-the-deceased-equal-the-mass-of-the-earth/219978/16 "2003-12-19T19:56:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Achernar \* > \*\* Where did the OP say we stay on Earth for this whole time? \*\* Ah! Hahahahahahahahahahahaha! ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-mass-of-the-deceased-equal-the-mass-of-the-earth/219978/17 "2003-12-19T20:15:18Z")
Make it simple for me; Let’s say that everything together now weighs ten pounds. Is the OP asking when will that be five pounds corpses and five pounds everything else? That would be, uh, 1786 years. 😉 Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-mass-of-the-deceased-equal-the-mass-of-the-earth/219978/18 "2003-12-19T20:21:57Z")
Don`t make it harder than it is. **gluteous** , the op specified PERSONS. Everyone dies. Weigh them at death, before they`re buried. Keep a running total of the weights. When that running total equals that of the weight of the Earth, stop. Archernar said 1,786 years. sounds reasonable. ---
**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:** [December 19, 2003, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-mass-of-the-deceased-equal-the-mass-of-the-earth/219978/19 "2003-12-19T20:22:10Z")
Except a corpse doesn’t weigh 65kg. That water tends to disappear, and that’s most of the weight. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-mass-of-the-deceased-equal-the-mass-of-the-earth/219978/20 "2003-12-19T20:25:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mangeorge \* > \*\*Make it simple for me; > Let’s say that everything together now weighs ten pounds. Is the OP asking when will that be five pounds corpses and five pounds everything else? > That would be, uh, 1786 years. 😉 > Peace, > mangeorge \*\* No, not corpses, just tally the weight of all people that die. Each body gets counted only once, at death. Weigh that person and then forget about the body. This is all on paper. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-mass-of-the-deceased-equal-the-mass-of-the-earth/219978.md?page=2)