what makes dead bodies float when they die by drowwing in water?

Question

after some time about 2 to 3 hours after they die

Answer 1

Most LIVE bodies will float in water, you know...! Fat is less dense than water, and floats.

As far as dead bodies go, decomposition in the intestines due to trapped bacteria produces gas which causes the abdominal cavity to swell up, displacing more water and the bloated corpse floats. But you don't have to be dead to float.

Look up something called Drownproofing. It could save your life, someday!

The old legend of firing cannon over the top of the water (as seen in Huckleberry Finn) to cause dead bodies to float to the surface is a fallacy. The belief was that the bodies were somehow trapped or held underwater and that the shock of the cannon fire would release them to float upward. It did not make them buoyant. And, in view of the fact that there are often currents or waves underwater, cannon fire as a means of dislodging them is superfluous.

28 OCT 06, 1222 hrs.

Answer 2

When a body is dead the lungs and heart stop working. So the carbon di oxide cannot exit from the body. This results to an air filled body. Air filled body doesnt drown. So it comes on the surface of the water and floats. But if a person is shot by a bullet and dies and then falls in water it does not float, because carbon di oxide can escape from the body and also water can enter the body.

Answer 3

Living on an island I have seen a few of these.
If the person drowned in the summer when the water is warm it would take about 6 days for enough gas to form in it,s body to float it to the top. If the person drowned in say 40 degree water or less
it,s not going to float until the water warms up.

Answer 4

The some of same bacteria that keep us healthy in life create gasses after death that blow up dead bodies underwater. The same gasses are what cause the awful smell when you pass road kill. We are designed to be sensitive to those smells.

Drowning has nothing to do with it, except that when there is water in the lungs, then the body is harder to float (less buoyant) so it may take a lot longer to float the corpse. In cold water it may take months for a body to float to the surface, sometimes it never will.

Answer 5

When people die, the bacteria in their gut, etc goes crazy and starts multiplying by the zillions, this causes decomposition and creates noxious gases. The gases make a dead body/animal bloat and gives bouyancy to the body so that they float. Usually they sink first, then as decomposition takes over, the body rises to the surface.

Answer 6

bodies start to decompose after death. except nail and hair. due to decomposition, gases are produced in the body that make it float. note that the bodies do not float immediately after death. the body remain at the bottom of the water for some time while the bacterias and micro organisms in the body starts to decompose its habitat. the biological decomposition leads to the rise of gases. the body starts to swell due to the inner pressure of the gases. hence it becomes bigger in dimension and thus the water displaced by the body becomes lesser now. therefore the body floats

Answer 7

It usually takes longer than that(a couple of days) but when the body starts to decay it creates gases that bloat the body which then makes the body float.

One of my friends brother drowned at our lake and it took 6 days for him to surface. Our lake is huge and he drowned out in the middle so they couldn't find him until he came up.
http://www.lakemcconaughy.com/
So Sad.

Answer 8

air is trapped in the body even after it dies. In addition the digestive tract bacteria continue to produce gas which makes the body boyant

Answer 9

If I am not mistaken it has something to do with the air in their lungs,and their body fluids draining. I would consult http://www.google.com and search for Dead+Bodies+Float+why+sci

Answer 10

Gas buildup that's naturally expelled through breathing or otherwise remains trapped in the stomach and lungs, resulting in positive bouyancy.