Assuming a radius of 50 nanometers (in the center of the estimated range) of Sars-CoV-2, the volume of a single spherical virus particle is 523,000 cubic nanometers.
By multiplying this very small volume by the very large number of particles we calculated earlier and converting it into meaningful units, we get a total volume of about 120 milliliters. If we want to bring all these virus particles together in one place, we must remember that spheres don’t fit together perfectly.
When you think about the orange pyramid you might see in the supermarket, you’ll remember that a significant portion of the space it takes up is empty. In fact, the best thing you can do to minimize empty space is a configuration called “close-sphere-packing”, in which empty space takes up about 26% of the total volume. This increases the total collected volume from Sars-CoV-2 particles to about 160 milliliters – easily small enough to fit about six shot glasses. Even if we take the top end of the diameter estimate and consider the size of the spike proteins, all of the Sars-CoV-2 would still not fill a can of soda.
It turns out that the total volume of Sars-CoV-2 was between my wife’s rough estimates of the teaspoon and pool. It is amazing to consider that all the difficulties, disruption, hardships and loss of life that have resulted in the past year could be just a few mouthfuls of what would undoubtedly be the worst drink in history.
Christian Yates is an associate professor of mathematical biology at the University of Bath and the author of The Maths of Life and Death.
This article has been adapted from a piece of that originally appeared on The Conversation, and is republished under a Creative Commons license.
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