Length of a Human Intestine
The Physics Factbook™
Edited by Glenn Elert -- Written by his students
An educational, Fair Use website
Edited by Glenn Elert -- Written by his students
An educational, Fair Use website
| Bibliographic Entry | Result (w/surrounding text) | Standardized Result |
|---|---|---|
| Kraus, David. Concepts of Modern Biology. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Globe Book Company, 1993. | "The small intestine in adults is a long and narrow tube about 7 meters (23 feet) long. The large intestine is so called because it is wide in diameter. However, it is shorter than the small intestine - only about 1.5 meters (5 feet) long." | 8.5 meters (whole intestine) |
| Intestine, Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia, 2007. | "In humans the intestine is divided into two major sections: the small intestine, which is about 6 m (20 ft) long,...; and the large intestine, which has a larger diameter and is about 1.5 m (5 ft) long,..." | 7.5 meters (whole intestine) |
| Landois, Leonard, & William Stirling. Textbook of Human Physiology. P. Blakiston, 1889. | "The human intestine is ten times longer than the length of the body,... It's minimum length is 507, its maximum length 1194 centimeters (17 to 35 feet);..." | 5.2 - 10.7 meters (whole intestine) |
| Flint, Austin. A Text-book of Human Physiology. D. Appleton and Company, 1888. | "The length of the small intestine, according to Gray, is about twenty feet (6.1 meters);..." | 6.1 meters (small intestine) |
| Intestine, Wikipedia, 28 May 2007. | "Grayish-purple in color and about one and a half inches (35 mm) in diameter, the small intestine is the first and longest, measuring twenty feet on average in an adult man." | 7.6 meters (whole intestine) |
| "Shorter and relatively stockier, the large intestine is a dark reddish color, measuring four feet and ten inches (1.5 m) on average." |
When food enters your body, it goes through the digestive system so that your body can absorb nutrients from the food. The digestive system begins with the mouth and is followed by the pharynx, the esophagus, and the intestine, which is divided into two major sections: the small intestine and the large intestine.
The small intestine is a long and narrow tube about 6 to 7 meters (20 to 23 feet) long. Food completes its chemical decomposition in which a compound is split into other compounds by reacting with water in the small intestine with the help of the liver, pancreas, and intestinal glands who pour their secretions into it. In the small intestine, there are an enormous number of tiny projections called villi, which absorb the end products of digestion. Villi and folds in the walls of the small intestine cover the lining and greatly increases the surface for absorption, which contributes to the length of the small intestine. The human small intestine has a surface area about ten times greater than the skin surface.
The large intestine is wide in diameters but shorter than the small intestine. It is only about 1.5 meters (5 feet) long. There is no decomposition of food in the large intestine. Bacteria in the large intestine break down any quantity of proteins that have not been completely digested. The large intestine is mostly used to store feces or waste, which consists of 10 to 50 percent of bacteria, undigested cellulose of plant cell walls, minerals, and water. This is then eliminated through the anus.
Therefore, the length of the entire human intestine can range from 7.5 to 8.5 meters (25 to 28 feet).
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