The body temperature of a dead body
will decline until it reaches the temperature of its surroundings which takes
about 8 to 12 hours on the skin, but the centre of the body will take much
longer, probably three times the time to cool.
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Body after death
temperature graph
To determine the rate of
cooling, the rectal temperature of the body and its surroundings will be taken
at the place where the person died and before it is removed to the mortuary.
However it varies as the location of the body and the temperature of the room
they died in affects the cooling rate.
The time of death could be
deduced using the body temperature as a factor, but many other factors can
influence this estimate. By assuming the body temperature loss is one and
a half degrees Fahrenheit per hour and the normal body temperature is 98.4, an
estimate of the time of death could be deduced.
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