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We're a mass of carbon and energy-Right?
So energry can't be destroyed or created but only change form-Right?
What do you think happens to it when we die?

2006-12-09 20:32:17 · 15 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics Physics

15 answers

This isn't really an answer as such but thought I'd throw it in as it is related. There have been some studies which have shown that there is a small weight loss at the moment of death. I think the purpose of it was to demonstrate that something was leaving the body at that moment although I don't really think it supports anything of that sort since soul is generally regarded as entirely non-physical so would be weightless (although it would explain why its so hard to lose weight - you could just have a really heavy soul!). It does suggest that some physical change occurs though.
The problem with this though is that there isn't really a precise moment of death (read 'The Romeo Error' by Lyall Watson). As science progresses, the point at which a person can be officially pronounced as dead keeps being pushed back and we can only really say for absolute certain that a person isn't revivable when their body starts to rot. I would guess that the rotting is probably where the energy change takes place - rotting flesh releases gases and some of the energy will be maintained in its original form in the new 'substance' that we become.
I noticed that you posted this question again and so am guessing that you weren't entirely convinced by the explanations you got before. It might be interesting for you to try posting the same question in a different category (e.g. religion) to see if you get something that makes more sense to you there as I have read the fact that energy can't disappear used as an argument for spirit, soul and afterlife. Its a shame you can't donate your energy when you die like your organs, I could do with an energy transfusion, I don't think I got my full quota!!!!

2006-12-10 04:10:15 · answer #1 · answered by melissa v 2 · 1 0

If this question is religiously inspired then you're not going to be able to listen to or accept a purely scientific answer.

Its true energy cant be created or destroyed but formulated like this it flies in the face of the 2nd law of thermodynamics, which basically says disorder increases in closed systems. Energy might not vanish but it will degrade to the point where it can't be used for anything.

Let me put it this way. I expect you are alive, being alive your body gives off radiant head. Some of this infrared radiation flies off up in to the sky and could conceivably go out in to space at the speed of light - do you expect that this energy is somehow still yours? That you can still make use of it? No... of course you can't.

When you die you'll be producing no new energy and your flesh will rot. Some of the 'energy' left in your body will be consumed by insects and bacteria.

Science is a way of learning how the Universe works, not how we want it to work. If you want to be told those things ask what happens to your 'soul' in the religion room. Since you have only one life, treat it as precious and let other people do the same. Regards

2006-12-09 21:58:19 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0 1

The mass of carbon goes through a decay, and while we are alive, we replenish the amount of carbon-14 in our bodies by eating foods or by absorbing from sunlight. But, when we die, the amount of carbon-14 goes through beta decay (which is when a radioactive nucleus loses an electron or a positron while keeping the same number of nucleons) and we don't replenish it anymore, so the ratio of carbon-14 to carbon-12 in our body decreases.
Usually, in the atmosphere and in our bodies, the C-14/C-12 ratio is 1.3X10^-12. But since the C-14 decay rate has a half-life of 5730 yr, we can use Carbon dating to find out how old an artifact is by the C-14/C-12 ratio that is actually there.

2006-12-09 21:06:58 · answer #3 · answered by love_happyfeet 1 · 1 0

We decay - just like a pear, an old banana, a tree in the forest or your cat under the sofa. And as we decay, the energy contained in your matter is transformed. If you're referring to the energy of our movement, talking, thinking, all that bouncy and interesting energy still has to be processed from sugars, fats, etc. When your body dies, the processing system shuts down - the potential "watching corrie" energy contained in a twix bar half digested in your stomach just stays there, and will eventually be used by another organism - worms, feral cats and the like.

2006-12-09 20:45:37 · answer #4 · answered by Daniel J 2 · 4 0

If you are religious, it is nice to think this energy floats into the atmosphere and gets swallowed up by new lives.
If you are not, you could see it as a decomposing body becoming fertiliser for plants, as in burial.
Cremation produces ashes which may enrich earth (visit the beautiful Garden of Remembrance at the Golders Green Crematorium, which receives daily ashes).
The honest answer is that nobody knows the correct answer to your question, it is a question of beliefs and faiths.

2006-12-09 20:39:51 · answer #5 · answered by simon2blues 4 · 1 0

Hi Rob An excellent philosophical question that has intrigued man kind for ages. Some would say the energy is found in the "spirit" which lives on.

2006-12-09 20:40:51 · answer #6 · answered by Phil 1 · 0 0

You're a mass of atoms, just like everything in the universe.

If I pulled you apart atom by atom and pulled your dinner table apart atom by atom, I'd have two mounds of atoms that look the same. That's it.

When you die, your body starts to decay and you'll slowly turn into dust.

2006-12-09 20:39:05 · answer #7 · answered by Cracker 4 · 0 0

Some of it gets consumed by the bacteria that decompose our bodies. Some of it gets released as gas during chemical reactions as we decompose. Some of it returns to the earth as dirt.

Or, if you're cremated, it mostly changes to heat energy.

2006-12-09 20:43:43 · answer #8 · answered by Answer 3 · 1 0

Worms eat you and recycle your energy, (fat,protein tissue,etc) , the birds eat the worms, cats eat the birds, and people in the far east eat birds. So them johny foreigners are selling us T.V.'s made from the energy off our parents and grandparents!!

2006-12-09 21:00:24 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0 1

Very astute. When we die, our energy dissipates. We are born again into another body (or bodies).

2006-12-09 20:36:04 · answer #10 · answered by noir 3 · 2 2

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