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This is a question back when I was in the third year of my (junior) middle school. However I still do not know an elegant answer to it. The question is composed of a single line.

Measure the body surface area of a person, listing necessary steps in the procedure and briefly explain how it works.

Wikipedia does have the page body surface area and it provides a formula for the estimation. However I don't see how that formula would fit into a question designed for middle school students using only textbook knowledge.

So I would know what the expected answer may be to the original question. Any help will be appreciated. I believe the measurement does not need to be very accurate.

This is a closely related question: How to (safely) measure the surface area of a human body?

The statement of that question is basically the same as this one, but the requirement is different. In the referred question, it is required the measurement be safe only. Some of the methods mentioned there (e.g. using a 3D imaging device) are clearly out of the scope of this question. In the highest voted answer there, honey is used to coat the person being measured. I think that method should work but just like my attempted answer of wrapping the person in latex, this renders the person being measured uncomfortable for quite a while, which is the part I find not elegant enough. I expect there is some simple and smart ways that will render the person measured no more uncomfortable than measuring the height or the weight, and only uses the middle school textbook knowledge.

I believe somewhere in the book I saw this question from I also saw the statement that this information may be important to a surgeon dealing with a person who got injured from fire. However of course in that latter case we may just as well use the formula from the Wikipedia.

Weijun Zhou
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  • @sammygerbil updated – Weijun Zhou Jan 21 '18 at 10:00
  • The use of "person" in the question implies that a safe method is required. If the measurement were to be performed as a Middle School science/mathematics activity, the school would not allow it unless it was safe. – sammy gerbil Jan 21 '18 at 10:11
  • @sammygerbil Yes I agree with you. – Weijun Zhou Jan 21 '18 at 10:12
  • What about the second answer of the question of which this one is being considered a duplicate? For more accuracy, you can approximate the head by a sphere, and the torso and members by cylinders. – stafusa Jan 21 '18 at 22:07
  • @stafusa At first I thought that is not accurate enough but I then realized I can always apply the latex/ointment method to a small portion of the body to improve the accuracy. Thank you for reminding me. – Weijun Zhou Jan 22 '18 at 11:59
  • I think the ointment procedure is flawed, because it's way too hard to ensure it's uniformly spread, and it requires precise measurements on the mm scale - so I wouldn't expect any improvement from it. – stafusa Jan 22 '18 at 12:21
  • @stafusa How about latex that I originally thought of as an answer? What do you think? – Weijun Zhou Jan 22 '18 at 12:23
  • The person would be wrapped using latex bands? You'd have to avoid, besides crossings and gaps, stretching them (to keep density uniform), which might be difficult, especially in the transition between the different body parts - but yes, that's probably better than the ointment solution. – stafusa Jan 22 '18 at 12:33
  • @stafusa I see. I actually mean that I measure "the easy parts" with the cylinder/cube model and the remaining parts (should be a small portion) using latex. Thank you for your reminder about the stretching latex. – Weijun Zhou Jan 22 '18 at 13:01
  • See also Easiest way to measure human ody surface area in Biology SE. This answer mentions the Coastline Paradox : the area you measure depends on the scale you use. – sammy gerbil Jan 22 '18 at 20:05
  • @sammygerbil Sure it involves the paradox so seeking for arbitrarily accurate result is meaningless. The answer in your referred question is very helpful and thank you very much for that. – Weijun Zhou Jan 22 '18 at 20:12

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