What is the weight ratio between a human corpse before and after cremation?

From a quick search, 4–6 lbs. or about 3.5% of the bodies weight.

@Coloma Thanks. GA!

@kritiper You’re most welcome. :)

It wouldn’t be possible to nail down a ratio because of variances in the composition of various bodies. Fat would be almost entirely combusted away, whereas bone would leave a lot of ash. That would mean that a skinny person and a fat person of the same stature could leave the same amount of ash.

Follow up question: Why do you want to know?

^^^ LOL…maybe He’s planning on burning someone and needs to find the right size container for their cremains. haha

Why can’t we cremate our own relatives, you know, giant bonfire and roast marshmallows and weenies, why not? lol

@ARE_you_kidding_me Just curious. Knowing that a normal person has 6 quarts of blood in their system wouldn’t account for much of a weight difference after cremation. What got me thinking was that my father was cremated and the mortician (person who buried the urn) didn’t need a hand truck to place the urn in the ground. Plus, some of his remains were distributed to the 4 winds and I emptied one small urn in doing so and noticed when I did just how heavy that small amount was.
@thorninmud Thanks for your input but a ballpark figure was close enough.

Both of my parents were cremated. Their wish was to have their ashes mixed together and distributed in the woods on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia, which we did. I was the one who handled the boxes that the cremains came in (each about the size of a double VHS tape plastic container).

The boxes were heavier than I thought that they would be, but still much lighter than their weight at the time of death. @Coloma‘s response would correlate to my personal experience.

What was fascinating in what be considered a morbid sense was that their cremains looked different. Dad’s had small pieces of bone in with the ashes, while Mom’s were just fine ash. I asked a mortician about this, and he said that there were several factors involved. One was that they died 20+ years apart, different funeral homes were used, and that Mom had osteoporosis, all could be a contributing factor.

That is a good question actually. I wondered as much so I know how large of an hourglass I will need to have blown to house my remains.

The body is about 70% water.

All that remains after the cremation process is some ash and bone. Some particles will carried to the air, and some lost in the oven. A rough guess ratio would be averaging about 90:1