eli5: What does it mean when people say that an animal has enough venom to kill X amount of people?

183 views

I’ve always been curious to what exactly this means. I may be overthinking it but like what does this refer to? Does this mean that they have can inject venom up to X amount of people before they die or run out?

In: 3

8 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Basically it means that it would take a minimum of X amount of venom to kill the object. The amount of venom delivered is Y times X, with Y being the number of the objects stated. For example let’s say it takes a minimum of 5 milligrams of spider venom to kill a horse, and when the spider bites it delivers 20 mg of venom. So it delivers enough venom to kill 4 horses. (Numbers and units made up on the spot for illustrative purposes only)

You are viewing 1 out of 8 answers, click here to view all answers.