The general idea is that because a man is alive he can make himself stay above the water,whereas a dead person has no abilities,therefore,he has to sink. A person only start to sink into the water when the air in his lungs is replaced with water.Once the body is submerged under the water,then the body stays under the water until the bacteria in the gut and the cavity in the chest can produce enough gases such as methane,hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide in order to float on the surface of water like balloon.The building up if these particular gases in a human body can take up to weeks sometimes.The depth of a drowning person gets to before and after dying depends upon several factors among which are the type of clothing worn by drowning person,the body's orientation and height from which the person fell into the water,the trashing movements of feet and arm etc.
The greater the density of a substance the greater its ability to submerge in water.The dead body is denser than water hence it sinks while at the bottom of the water,gases which are lighter than the water build up in the dead body make the body less dense.After sometimes(around 24 hours), the weight of the body becomes less denser than the water,hence the body floats.
The greater the density of a substance the greater its ability to submerge in water.The dead body is denser than water hence it sinks while at the bottom of the water,gases which are lighter than the water build up in the dead body make the body less dense.After sometimes(around 24 hours), the weight of the body becomes less denser than the water,hence the body floats.
When the body is submerged then it does not necessarily mean that all the body parts are inflated at the same time.First,the torso part of the body which consists of most of the bacteria get bloated more than the head and the limbs.Since the limbs and the head can only drape forward from the body,the corpses tend to rotate such that the Tori floats face-down with the arm and legs hanging under it.
As the body sinks into deep water,the pressure of the water tends to compress gasses in the the abdominal and chest cavities with the result that the body displaces less water as it sinks deeper and consequently becomes less and less buoyant,the further down it goes.Decomposition continues underwater and then more and more gas is collected and the body may start floating again.This is also known as a ''re-float'' in term of rescue workers.
The length of time that elapses before the body rises depends on the temperature of the water also.It the water is warm, the formation of gas within the body occurs rapidly and the body may rise to the surface in a day or two.
However, if the water is cold,bacterial action takes place very slowly and it may take several weeks before the body appears on the surface.
By Kinza Sarkar.
No comments:
Post a Comment