What is the phenonmenon where the body "freezes" when dead, what is occuring, and why?

Answer 1

It is called Rigor Mortis. As the muscle tissue breaks down the muscle cells leak calcium into the cell. Calcium is required for the muscle fibers to bind prior to contraction. With the flood of calcium in the cell the muscle fibers are all attached but because the person is dead the muscle cannot contract so the person gets stiff. This is why a dead body is called a Stiff.

Answer 2

When a body begins freezing through death it is actually the circulation failing and body temperature rising. The person will feel cool or cold, look pale and perspire heavily. The pulse is fast, weak and irregular and the blood pressure starts to fall. This is when "mottling" occurs. Mottling is when the skin becomes blotchy.

Rigor mortis is what occurs about 2 - 4 hours after death when the body goes stiff and muscles go rigid.

Answer 3

rigor mortis? When the body dies and the muscles stop twitching and moving then rigamortis sets in. The muscles contract making the body very stiff. ....The process of rigor mortis is the result of a stiffening or contraction of the body muscles related to chemical changes occurring within the muscles after death. As a general rule rigor mortis begins 2 to 4 hours after death. Contrary to popular belief, rigor mortis starts at the same time throughout the body, however it is first observed in the jaws and neck. It then progresses in a head to foot direction and is complete in 8 to 12 hours after death. At this stage the jaws, neck, torso, and upper and lower extremities are literally "stiff as a board" and in this marked state of stiffening, resist any change in position.

Answer 4

well I thought you might mean cryogenics... freezing a body after death in order to suspend the breaking down of the tissue.
usually that is done to keep a body around until a 'cure' is found for what ailed ya.

if you are meaning the first stiffening of a stiff, then rigor mortis is the answer, as has been given a number of times. the body gets rigid (rigor) shortly after death (mortis) and then later loses that rigidity and that process can sometimes give a clue to when death occured.

Answer 5

Rigor Mortis

"The biochemical cause of rigor mortis is hydrolysis of ATP in the muscle tissue, the chemical energy source required for movement. Myosin molecules devoid of ATP become permanently adherent to actin filaments to form actomyosin complex, causing muscles to become rigid. After the pH of the muscle has become 5.5, release of autolytic enzymes stored in lysosomes will take place. The major proteolytic enzymes are Cathepsins and Calpains. These enzymes act at the myofibrillar proteins and hydrolyse them. As a result, the actomyosin complex is broken down and muscles become "soft" again. This is known as resolution of rigor."

Answer 6

I think you mean "RIGOR MORTIS" - this is a process where chemistry is involved in seizing up the muscular fibers essentially freezing them into position as they die, then as they begin to rot they lose the intercellular cohesion which allows the joints to be movable again.

Rigor mortis takes several hours (days?) to set in depending on temp[erature and hydration and some other factors - however it's well known enough to be used to aid in the assessment of TOD (Time of Death)

Answer 7

if you mean the reason that bodies get cold:

first of all the body stops burning calories, which means the body can only get cooler.

second of all there is a LOT of water in the human body and it continues to evaporate, and since evaporation has a cooling effect, the body gets very cold after a while

Answer 8

rigor mortis. it has to do with the need for energy (ATP molecules) for the relaxation of muscle fibers. once you die, you use up all your ATP and can't make more, so the body becomes stiff a few hours after death.

Answer 9

Rigor mortise. Google it.

Answer 10

RIGOR MORTIS