Why Do Dead Bodies Float?

It is a common observation that a living person sinks in the water and a dead body floats at the surface of the water. Now, it is a confusing thing for us that why a living person sinks in the water and a dead body floats at the surface of the water. Most people provide a non-scientific reason for this phenomenon. According to them, a living person has the ability to come out of the water, therefore, he has to sink. On the other hand, a dead body doesn’t have abilities to come out of the water, therefore, it floats. This is not the perfect explanation of this fact. We are living in the scientific world and we require a scientific explanation of each phenomenon. The scientific explanation of this fact is explained below;

When a body sinks under the water, the bacteria in the gut and the cavity in the chest of this person continue to produce gases. This body sinks under the water until enough gases are not produced in the body of this person. When enough gases like methane, hydrogen sulfide, and carbon dioxide are produced in the body of the person, he starts to float at the surface of the water just like a balloon. The production of these gases in the body of a person depends upon some other factors too. Therefore, it takes some time to float a body at the surface of the water. That’s why if a person sinks into a river, we find it away from the destination.

As we know that rescue workers have to find dead bodies in the water. Sometimes, rescue workers use the term ‘re-float’ while rescuing dead bodies. According to them, if a dead body floats at the surface of the water for a long time, it releases the gas. This gas builds in the body. As a result, this dead body sinks again into the water. Under the water, the decomposition process continues in the dead body. Due to this decomposition process, more and more gasses produce in the dead body. When enough gases produce in the dead body, it will also start floating again. We call it the re-floating of the dead body.