Weight of the Internet of the Day: Despite what Jen from The IT Crowd may think, the Internet isn’t entirely weightless. It is, however, mind-blowingly light, as Michael from Vsauce explains.
Because the electrons that power the Internet have mass, it’s possible to calculate the total weight of the electrons in motion, and (according to Russell Seitz) that weight is about 50 grams. It’s about three times that if you include PCs instead of just servers.
It’s also possible to estimate the weight of all the information stored on the Internet by multiplying the amount of electrons in a byte by the total number of bytes stored. Stephen Cass at Discover came up with an estimate of 0.2 millionths of an ounce.
That’s still not zero, but it’s about the same weight as the smallest possible grain of sand.
