Blood alcohol content (BAC) estimate by the Widmark formula from drinks, body weight and time, with the elimination curve and time back to zero.
By the Widmark estimate, blood alcohol is about 0.042% now and falls to zero in roughly 2 h 47 min. This is an average-person model, not a measurement.
r = 0.73 for men: the share of body weight that holds the alcohol.
0.015 % per hour is an average elimination rate; individual rates differ.
Blood alcohol content (BAC) is estimated with the Widmark formula: the alcohol drunk is spread through a share r of body weight, 0.73 for men and 0.66 for women, and about 0.015 percentage points are eliminated per hour. In US units, BAC % = fluid ounces of alcohol × 5.14 ÷ (weight in lb × r) − 0.015 × hours. One US standard drink holds 14 g, or 0.6 fl oz, of pure alcohol (NIAAA).
People use it to see how drinks, body weight and time interact. An 80 kg man who has had 3 standard drinks over 2 hours is estimated at 0.042 %, and the estimate reaches zero about 2 h 47 min later.
The result is an average-person model, not a measurement: food, drinking pace, medicines and liver function change real BAC, and impairment begins well below legal limits. It is not a basis for deciding whether to drive.
Checked against: Python 3.8 decimal: 1.8 × 5.14 / (180 × 0.73) − 0.015 × 2 = 0.04041; zero after 0.070411/0.015 − 2 h = 2.6941 h
Checked against: Python 3.8 decimal: A = 750/29.5735295625 × 0.12 = 3.04326 fl oz; 3.04326 × 5.14 / (130 × 0.66) − 0.045 = 0.13731
Checked against: Python 3.8 decimal: 0.6 × 5.14 / (176.37 lb × 0.73) = 0.02395 < 0.015 × 5, so the estimate is 0
Checked against: Definition: A = 0 gives BAC 0
In the US, a standard drink contains 14 g (0.6 fl oz) of pure alcohol: 12 fl oz of 5 % beer, 5 fl oz of 12 % wine or 1.5 fl oz of 40 % spirits, according to NIAAA. Other countries use different sizes; a UK unit is 8 g, so one US standard drink is 1.75 UK units. A 750 mL bottle of 12 % wine holds about 71 g of alcohol, roughly 5 US standard drinks.
With the Widmark formula. The alcohol drunk is divided by body weight times r, the share of the body that holds it (0.73 for men and 0.66 for women here), and about 0.015 percentage points are subtracted for each hour since drinking began. A 180 lb man who has 3 standard drinks (1.8 fl oz of alcohol) peaks at 1.8 × 5.14 ÷ (180 × 0.73) = 0.070 % and is estimated at 0.040 % two hours later.
At the average elimination rate of about 0.015 percentage points per hour, a BAC of 0.08 % takes roughly 5 hours 20 minutes to reach zero. One US standard drink takes about 1.3 hours to clear for a 100 kg man and 2.8 hours for a 50 kg woman by this estimate. Coffee, water and sleep do not speed elimination; the liver sets the pace, and individual rates vary.
0.08 % in every US state except Utah, which lowered its limit to 0.05 % in 2018, and 0.04 % for US commercial drivers. England, Wales and Northern Ireland use 80 mg per 100 mL of blood (0.08 %) and Scotland 50 mg (0.05 %). Impairment starts below these limits, so an estimate under the limit does not mean it is safe to drive.
Accuracy depends on your inputs and the method's assumptions. Decimal arithmetic uses 50 significant digits, but estimates, numerical methods and source data can be less precise; the displayed rounding does not remove those limits. It is checked against 5 worked examples whose answers come from independent sources; for example, “Man, 180 lb, 3 standard drinks, 2 hours” is checked against Python 3.8 decimal: 1.8 × 5.14 / (180 × 0.73) − 0.015 × 2 = 0.04041; zero after 0.070411/0.015 − 2 h = 2.6941 h.
Widmark EMP. Die theoretischen Grundlagen und die praktische Verwendbarkeit der gerichtlich-medizinischen Alkoholbestimmung (1932); NIAAA — What is a standard drink?; NIAAA — Understanding the dangers of alcohol overdose.
For information only, not medical advice. These formulas describe populations, not you; talk to a clinician before acting on a result.
5 worked examples with independently sourced answers ship with this calculator. They run in the test suite; you can run them here too.
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