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To: Jonty30
Using a conversion conversion chart, from calories to wattage, 300 calories = about 0.3489 watts/day. So, the average brain uses around 0.3489 watts/day.

A watt is a unit of POWER. A watt-hour is a unit of ENERGY. (A calorie is a unit of ENERGY. But the figure you cited should actually be expressed in KILOcalories - a common mistake; the food-energy values we all know are actually KILOcalories.)

One watt-hour is equivalent to 859.8 Kcalories. So 300 Kcalories are equivalent to 2.87 watt-hours.

Thus, if the brain consumes 300 kcalories per day, that would be equivalent to 0.287 watt-hours per day.

In short: Your math is faulty, and you are also using incorrect units.

The correct figure is: The average human brain - when at rest - consumes approx. 287 watt-hours per day.

The amount of energy the brain consumes when actively thinking is not much greater: That's because most of the brain's energy output serves merely to keep approx. 3 lbs of living tissue warm and alive.

Regards,

18 posted on 09/17/2023 1:52:58 AM PDT by alexander_busek (Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.)
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To: alexander_busek

All right. So, how much in power, as far as cost goes, is the brain using?


19 posted on 09/17/2023 1:54:01 AM PDT by Jonty30 (If liberals were truth tellers, they'd call themselves literals. )
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To: alexander_busek

In my province, that’s about 5 cents. Still very efficient.


20 posted on 09/17/2023 1:55:42 AM PDT by Jonty30 (If liberals were truth tellers, they'd call themselves literals. )
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