# Why is the average bathtub not long enough for an adult to stretch out in? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 19, 2012, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-average-bathtub-not-long-enough-for-an-adult-to-stretch-out-in/613355 "2012-02-19T21:15:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-average-bathtub-not-long-enough-for-an-adult-to-stretch-out-in/613355/41 "2012-02-20T14:35:05Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > They exist - google _upright bathtub_ or\* soaking bathtub \* - looks like there are two kinds - those that you climb into from the top, and those that have a door in the side (obviously can only be opened when the tub is empty) - the latter sort being primarily marketed to disabled people who either can’t step into a bath, or can’t safely lie down in one. > > ETA: I imagine they probably use a fair bit more water than a conventional bath - by a factor of two or more, just because people wouldn’t want to be confined to a narrow vertical water-filled tube. HAH!! I’ve thought about this design; it seems so cool an idea. Never dreamed they existed. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-average-bathtub-not-long-enough-for-an-adult-to-stretch-out-in/613355/42 "2012-02-20T15:40:59Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > EUREKA!!! Not any more I don’t - I’ve just had a bath 🙂 Anyway, is a standard US bathtub really 60" long? The standard in the UK is 170cm, which is just under 67". The bathroom in my house is only about 165cm wide, which meant rather a lot of chiselling out of the brick walls to fit a new bath in. But fit it did. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![spankthecrumpet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a87d85/32.png) [@spankthecrumpet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spankthecrumpet)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-average-bathtub-not-long-enough-for-an-adult-to-stretch-out-in/613355/43 "2012-02-20T16:24:46Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Only once he’s lying down and floating in the water. If you fill a bath full up to the brim, then step into it, the floor is bearing the weight of all the water, plus your body weight, minus the weight of water displaced by your feet and lower legs(not much). > Sure, the weight will go down when you lie down and the water displaced by your body goes down the overflow, but the peak load may be higher than the weight of the filled bath. Maybe somewhat moot, because I doubt this happens very often. Obese people are usually less dense than water. There’ll actually be less weight with a fatty in the tub. Your overflow scenario, as you sorta-admit, is unlikely. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-average-bathtub-not-long-enough-for-an-adult-to-stretch-out-in/613355/44 "2012-02-20T16:27:17Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Did she even die in a bathtub? [Yes.](http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/02/whitney-houston-found-underwater-bathtub-unconscious.html) ---
**Author:** ![Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/58956e/32.png) [@Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emtar_KronJonDerSohn)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-average-bathtub-not-long-enough-for-an-adult-to-stretch-out-in/613355/45 "2012-02-21T14:50:25Z")
> [@spankthecrumpet](#): > > Obese people are usually less dense than water. There’ll actually be less weight with a fatty in the tub. > > Your overflow scenario, as you sorta-admit, is unlikely. Actually, buoyant objects will displace an amount of water equal to their weight rather than their volume and float. More likely though, the depth of the water will not allow enough of Mr(s) Fatty’s volume to displace this amount of water and float, so the tub will weigh more with a person in it. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-average-bathtub-not-long-enough-for-an-adult-to-stretch-out-in/613355/46 "2012-02-21T15:40:26Z")
> [@spankthecrumpet](#): > > Obese people are usually less dense than water. There’ll actually be less weight with a fatty in the tub. **Emtar KronJonDerSohn** is right - less dense bodies still displace their weight of water, which is why part of them is able to protrude above the surface. > [@](#): > > Your overflow scenario, as you sorta-admit, is unlikely. Indeed, however, peak load happens before any displacement/overflow occurs anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-average-bathtub-not-long-enough-for-an-adult-to-stretch-out-in/613355/47 "2012-02-21T16:20:08Z")
If the tub is longer, it’s got more floor space upon which to spread out the weight. So it’s not really the total weight we care about. It’s the weight per square foot, which would be the same no matter how big the tub was. Unless you’re talking about exceeding the weight limit of the _entire floor_, I don’t think weight is really the issue here. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-average-bathtub-not-long-enough-for-an-adult-to-stretch-out-in/613355/48 "2012-02-21T17:13:26Z")
**Why is the average bathtub not long enough for an adult to stretch out in?** Because not enough adults pitch a bitch the way I would about short tubs. I loves me a nice long soak in a tub full of hot water. Aaah! ---
**Author:** ![MacCat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maccat/32/216_2.png) [@MacCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacCat)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-average-bathtub-not-long-enough-for-an-adult-to-stretch-out-in/613355/49 "2012-02-21T17:23:32Z")
> [@Zakalwe](#): > > and most people are taller than 60’. [She’s only 50’](http://www.incredibletvandmovies.com/allisonhayes50footwoman.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2012, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-average-bathtub-not-long-enough-for-an-adult-to-stretch-out-in/613355/50 "2012-02-22T19:27:31Z")
Could it have something to do with standard water heater capacity? I know that my water heater only has a bit less than one tub’s worth of hot water in it. If it were 20% bigger, it’d be quite a bit colder. ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2012, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-average-bathtub-not-long-enough-for-an-adult-to-stretch-out-in/613355/51 "2012-02-22T20:27:37Z")
Fashion? Specifically, the preference for showers over baths and the expansion of the rest of the bathroom furniture from a simple sink to a large, sometimes double sink/vanity area. If anything, bathtubs from previous eras were bigger and heavier than recent ones. My grandmothers 1920’s house had an enormous clawfoot jobbie that I’d love to have now. The master bathroom in our “luxury” apartment has no bathtub at all. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-average-bathtub-not-long-enough-for-an-adult-to-stretch-out-in/613355.md?page=2)