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Calculadora · Health

Body Surface Area Calculator

LIVE
Du Bois
1.848 m²
Mosteller
1.845 m²
Average
1.846 m²

Compute body surface area (BSA) using the Du Bois and Mosteller formulas — commonly used for chemotherapy dosing and paediatric medicine.

Written by Editorial DeskReviewed by Laura Whitmore

How it works

body surface area calculator — the short version

If you want a body surface area calculator without the sales pitch, the Body Surface Area Calculator keeps the maths honest and the steps visible, the way a spreadsheet would if you'd built it yourself.

For a body surface area calculator you can defend in a meeting, Body Surface Area Calculator shows the figure AND the working. Copy the working, not just the number — that's where the conversation moves forward.

A number is a prompt to talk to your GP, not a diagnosis. Rest 5 minutes before taking the reading — then work out the number and the rest of this page explains what the answer means.

Used clinically for chemotherapy dosing and burns assessment. Adults typically fall between 1.6 m² and 2.2 m². The Du Bois formula is an alternative for shorter patients.

On this page you will see Health & Wellbeing, NHS and BNF (British National Formulary) treated as first-class terms — each one is linked to the calculators and references that use it, so you can follow the thread without retyping queries into a search bar.

The formula we run is Mosteller: BSA (m²) = √((height_cm × weight_kg) / 3600). You'll see each term laid out in the worked example below.

If it helps, jump straight to the Health hub or compare with the BMI Calculator and the Ideal Weight Calculator — those two calcs are the ones readers usually open right after this page.

From inputs to answer, in full

Consider a realistic scenario and follow it through:

Used clinically for chemotherapy dosing and burns assessment. Adults typically fall between 1.6 m² and 2.2 m². The Du Bois formula is an alternative for shorter patients.

Every run comes back to Mosteller: BSA (m²) = √((height_cm × weight_kg) / 3600) — change the inputs, the structure of the answer stays.

Moments this tool earns its keep

Body Surface Area Calculator is aimed at people arriving with questions like these:

  • "Du bois formula"
  • "Mosteller formula"
  • "Bsa dosing"
  • "Body surface area pediatric"
  • "What is body surface area calculator"
  • "How to calculate body surface area calculator"

Where the number stops being useful

Every tool has an edge where it stops being the right answer. Body Surface Area Calculator is no exception:

  • For legally binding tax or medical decisions — cross-check with HMRC, NHS or a qualified professional.
  • For very large or very small extremes the rounding error outgrows the useful precision.
  • When the underlying rate or threshold has changed since the page was last reviewed — always verify with the primary source.
  • When the input you have is already a derived figure (net of something) — feeding it in as "gross" will double-subtract.

Watch-outs before you trust the number

Every time you work out the number for a new scenario, one of these creeps in — it's worth knowing them ahead of time.

  • Misreading the unit in the label — 'per year', 'per month' and 'per day' versions of the same figure differ by 12× or 365×.
  • Taking a ratio and multiplying it by the wrong side of the inputs — always write the ratio as A/B with labels before running.
  • Trusting a screenshot of someone else’s calculation — rerun it yourself with the same inputs, numbers drift.
  • Assuming percentages add up. 10% off then 10% more is not the original price — it is 99% of it.
  • Not refreshing the page when thresholds are date-sensitive. If the page was cached yesterday, bank rates may already be yesterday’s.

The sources behind the numbers

Where the maths needs an external authority, we cross-check against:

  • NHS
  • BNF (British National Formulary)

Works well alongside

If this question keeps coming up for you, the same cluster of tools usually comes next:

  • BMI Calculator — Check your Body Mass Index in metric or imperial, with NHS weight categories explained.
  • Ideal Weight Calculator — Estimate a healthy weight range from height using Devine, Robinson, Miller and Hamwi formulas.

How we keep this accurate

Our calculadoras run on pure, unit-tested functions — the same logic lives in the browser and in the CI test suite. When tax rates, thresholds or official figures move, the update lands within 24 hours of the announcement. You can read the editorial policy and corrections policy.

Found an out-of-date number on Body Surface Area Calculator or anywhere else in the Health toolkit? Send it to the editorial desk and we'll patch it. Or browse the full calculadora directory for the next tool you need.

Frequently asked questions

Du bois formula?
The useful way to think about it: feed the figures into the Body Surface Area Calculator widget and it'll show the working. Compute body surface area (BSA) using the Du Bois and Mosteller formulas — commonly used for chemotherapy dosing and paediatric medicine. Used clinically for chemotherapy dosing and burns assessment. Adults typically fall between 1.6 m² and 2.2 m². The Du Bois formula is an alternative for shorter patients.
Mosteller formula?
Cutting to it, the underlying formula is **Mosteller: BSA (m²) = √((height_cm × weight_kg) / 3600)**. Used clinically for chemotherapy dosing and burns assessment. Adults typically fall between 1.6 m² and 2.2 m². The Du Bois formula is an alternative for shorter patients.
Bsa dosing?
Short answer: this question usually arrives alongside BMI Calculator, Ideal Weight Calculator. The Body Surface Area Calculator handles the specific case above; the others cover adjacent ground.
Body surface area pediatric?
Quick version: every figure is cross-checked against NHS and the wider data. If you notice a stale rate, email the editorial desk and we'll patch it in under 24 hours.
What is body surface area calculator?
Practically speaking, yes, everything runs in your browser. No inputs are sent to our servers or any third party, nothing is logged and nothing persists after you close the tab.
How to calculate body surface area calculator?
Here's the plain-English summary: Body Surface Area Calculator is free to use, free to share and free to embed — pass the URL around a class, a slack channel or a family chat. The editorial policy covers attribution.
Body surface area calculator formula?
In one line: the short method: write the inputs in the units shown, run the calculation, then sense-check the answer against an order-of-magnitude estimate in your head.
Body surface area calculator example?
Put simply, if the result surprises you, run it a second time with slightly different inputs — small swings often reveal a unit or rounding issue in the original figures.
Body surface area calculator worked example?
The direct take: a calculadora is a sanity check, not a verdict. For anything legally binding — contracts, tax filings, medical decisions — bring the figure to a qualified professional as a starting point.
Body surface area calculator explained?
Straightforward answer: Compute body surface area (BSA) using the Du Bois and Mosteller formulas — commonly used for chemotherapy dosing and paediatric medicine. The page walks through the method in full so you can answer follow-up questions without guessing.
Body surface area calculator definition?
Without the jargon, open the Body Surface Area Calculator widget at the top of the page. Compute body surface area (BSA) using the Du Bois and Mosteller formulas — commonly used for chemotherapy dosing and paediatric medicine. Used clinically for chemotherapy dosing and burns assessment. Adults typically fall between 1.6 m² and 2.2 m². The Du Bois formula is an alternative for shorter patients.
Body surface area calculator meaning?
Tldr: open the Body Surface Area Calculator widget at the top of the page. Compute body surface area (BSA) using the Du Bois and Mosteller formulas — commonly used for chemotherapy dosing and paediatric medicine. Used clinically for chemotherapy dosing and burns assessment. Adults typically fall between 1.6 m² and 2.2 m². The Du Bois formula is an alternative for shorter patients.

References