Why Do  Float?

I was reading this  last night, and in it this guy goes missing and then a week later they find his body  in a nearby lake. I don’t get it–I have a hard enough time staying a for ten minutes, and I’m alive. It’s a mystery how  do it.

Let’s see if we can figure this mystery out. The first clue is that the density of the human body is similar to the density of water, and what keeps us floating–other than the dog paddle–is the air in our lungs.

You’d think a  would sink as the air in its lungs is replaced by water. And they do–at least But when any organism dies, it goes through  the series of chemical, physical, and biological changes that end up returning the body to the food chain.

When a body dies, the bacteria that normally live in the  system continue to feed on the proteins and sugar in the body’s soft tissues, and to excrete gases including carbon dioxide, ammonia, hydrogen, and methane.

I give up! What does that have to do with floating?

Well, these gasses accumulate in the body’s cavities, and–if it’s submerged in water–eventually cause it to start rising.

Gross!

Decomposition happens more slowly in water, and even more slowly in cold water.

So the mystery solved!