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Why don't dead bodies sink in water?

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Things float in water if they are less dense than water, i.e. they weigh less than the same volume of water. The density of a human body with a lung full of air is about 0.985kg/l - slightly less than water (1.0kg/l) - which is why, if I throw you in a swimming pool, you'll float with a small amount of you (0.015 by weight out of the water). read more

And I actually don't want to know how you know this. Though I would've guessed it should be the other way around. If the body were 'fresh' (as fresh as a dead body can be anyways) then there would be lots of gases still in the body, keeping it buoyant. read more

Of course, if the water is cold enough, the dead body may be held in "deep freeze" and it might never rise. Answer 2: Dead bodies undergo a series of changes, biological, chemical and physical, which eventually return the body's components to the food chain. read more

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