this is gruesome but I would like to know out of morbid curiosity?

Question

what happens to a body when its buried in a coffin? does it liquefy or dry out or what?

Answer 1

During the embalming process the blood is replaced with embalming fluid and the bladder is emptied. A final step is to spray the body with a chemical spray that kills all the skin mites that normally live on the skin so that they don't continue to live there. The body is kept at a cooled temperature during the viewing and funeral. Following the service the casket is closed and the vacuum is established keeping the casket air tight. Decomposition takes a long time. Bodies can sometimes be exhumed after several years and be in nearly the same state they were in at burial. The body does not liquefy but will eventually more or less dry out. Also remember that the casket itself is not actually placed into the ground. A vault is placed first and the casket is then placed in it, the lid placed and it too is sealed.

To above answer: I don't know where you got your info but the organs are NEVER removed unless done so at autopsy. Meantime the blood is removed, embalming fluid replaces it and the tissues are then more or less pickled to put it bluntly. I am appalled at the misinformation posted for this question!!!

Answer 2

I depends on the post-death treatment of the body. In the U.S., we tend to fill the body will formeldahyde (the same stuff is in nail polish, btw), which slows decomposition--in some cases nearly completely, resulting in a "mummified" corpse. If you do not use formeldahyde in the body it will decompose faster, although that depends on the conditions of the ground, weather, tightness of the seal of the coffin. There have been cases where a body was buried for about a century and was unearthed only to find it had barely decomposed. There is a lot of study into decomposition and what factors effect it. If you're interested, there's a book about the Body Farm, which is a plot of land owned by a university. People donate their bodies and students study the effects different factors have on decomposition rates.

As for liquifying or drying... Both. Within a few days of death, if the body is not treated with formeldahyde, the internal organs will begin to liquify and the blood and other liquid will pool at the bottom of the body (gravity). However, after this occurs, the body may then dry out.

Answer 3

The normal, everyday bacteria and tiny insects that live in the air begin to take up residence in the body. Imagine the body as a giant cookie, where thousands of people take small bites everyday. It's a feast for them. The bacteria "eat" the nutrients found in your body's dead cells. They "drink" the water in the cytoplasm. Hence the body dries out, shrivels up, and all those waste products from those bacteria are left on the parts that the bacteria can't digest, leaving a very dry corpse. Then, different bacteria eat away at the waste products, until nothing is left but dust. That last sentence takes hundreds, or even thousands of years. Of course, if the person is preserved artificially, then the process takes a lot longer. Normally the water is removed from the corpse, and now adays the corpse is sprayed with chemicals to kill the decomposers.

Answer 4

The body is preserved and since the ccoffin is sealed, the process of decomposition is much slower. The body tends to dry out, the technical term being dessicate, as bacteria work on it in the dry atmosphere of a coffin. This prevents the type of modling and wet decomposition found on bodies left in the woods, and prevents insects and outside fungi from attacking the corpse.

This makes it possible to exhume a corpse for longer periods of time than had previously been the case.

Answer 5

having had all the organs and blood removed from the body, there is a small amount of liquid still present in the muscles and such. once you die, bacteria immediately begins easting away at the body. normally this process is halted when you are alive and your immune system can take care of these bacteria. the bacteria eats away all remaining flesh on the body. this process turns whatever flesh remaining into a sludge that seeps into the lining of the coffin. over time this will produce a white filmy mold that covers the entire body. after about a couple of years or so this mold is quite evident on exhumations. from this point, there lacks any oxygen or liquid to further erode the body. this point all that is left is dried up flesh and bones and mold. over even longer periods of time the dried up flesh flakes away as does the mold. which then all you're left with is bones.

Answer 6

In some cases the coffin rots away do to the materials it's made of. The body normally decomposes and the bones turn brown. The bones are what you have left. They are fragile, it also depends on the age.

I've seen this in a Anthopology lab at the Smithsonian. They also do forensic science there. Dr. David Hunt is the expert in this field. I asked him this very question!

Answer 7

here's what happens:

"After the first 36 hours, the abdomen takes on a greenish discoloration that spreads to the neck, shoulders and head.

Bloating, caused by the accumulation of gas produced by bacteria within the body's cavities and skin, follows. Bloating begins in the face, where features swell, and eyes and tongue protrude.

The skin begins to develop blisters or large areas of accumulation of liquid or serum.

The skin next starts to marble, meaning it reveals a weblike pattern of blood vessels in the face, chest, abdomen, and extremities caused by the breakdown of red blood cells that release hemoglobin, which stains the vessel walls.

As gasses accumulate, the abdomen swells, and the skin continues to blister. Skin and hair begin to slip from the body, and fingernails begin to slough off.

If you were to pull on the body at this point, to move an arm for example, you'd likely come away with a handful of skin instead.

The body takes on a greenish-black color, and the fluids of decomposition (purge fluid) begin draining from the nose and mouth. As the body swells, the tissues break open, releasing gas and decompostition fluids - much like an over-ripe tomato splitting open.

The intestines, which hold many bacterial species, decay first, followed by the liver, lungs, brains, and then the kidneys. Stomach decomp is often delayed because the stomach may contain food mixed with a significant amount of acid mucus that slows the growth of bacteria and may even kill many of them. Lastly, the uterus or prostate succumbs to invading bacteria."

Answer 8

Bodies have to be embalmed. An undertaker once told us that the body would stay as it was when it was buried for approximately twenty years before it would start to decay. They are sealed in a vault also so that helps keep the water and the critters out for a while.

Answer 9

Decomposition - we eventually all rot and return a small part of what we took back to the earth.

Unfortunately, people seem to feel the need to embalm and preserve their bodies for several years in coffins that are airtight, thus depriving the earth of the little bit of good we can give back.

Isnt' that a shame?

Toodles.

Answer 10

It decomposes, at a slow rate of course because normally bodies are embalmed. Parts of it liquefy and parts dry out. A little of both.