What are the three parts of death within the first 24 hours?

When someone dies there are several stages a body goes through as it decomposes over the first 24 to 48 hours. These stages assist medical examiners in determining how long a body has been dead. The three stages of decomposition are livor mortis, algor mortis, and rigor mortis.

study.com - Algor Mortis in Stages of Death - Video & Lesson Transcript

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Stages of Death Mortis

There are key stages of early decomposition that occur during the first 24 to 48 hours of death. The stages of death mortis are:

Livor mortis: the first stage of changes after death.

the first stage of changes after death. Algor mortis : the second stage of changes after death. : the second stage of changes after death. Rigor mortis: the third stage of changes after death.

Livor Mortis

Livor mortis is defined as the first stage after death. It means "discoloration of death" or "wound of death" in Latin. Liver mortis occurs within 20 to 30 minutes after death and lasts for the first 12 hours. It is the change in body color caused by blood flowing to the lowest points of the body due to gravity pulling it down. This makes the underside darker and the upper side of the body paler. The hemoglobin within the blood turns purple because it is pooling. Liver mortis can aid in helping a criminal investigator determine if the body has been moved from the time that it died due to the pooling affect.

Algor Mortis

Algor mortis is defined as the second stage after death. It starts approximately 30 minutes after death and can continue for the first 48 hours, but typically is complete by 18 to 20 hours after death, unless the body is in an extreme environment. It is caused when the body's thermoregulatory structures and systems stop.

Rigor Mortis

Rigor mortis is the third stage of early decomposition. It roughly translates from Latin as "stiffness of death." This is the stage in which the body stiffens as a result of muscle contractions. Rigor mortis can set in anywhere from one to six hours after death. The average time it takes is usually between two to four hours after death. It can last up to 24 hours before the muscles stop their contractions.

Using Algor Mortis to Determine Time of Death

Algor mortis can be used to help determine the time of death for a person that passes away outside of a medical facility. The time of death is recorded at a medical facility or by a coroner. Using algor mortis to pinpoint time of death can help with criminal investigations by determining when a victim died. We will be discussing the formula used to determine the time of death from algor mortis in upcoming sections. We will also discuss the methods of taking a reading, and factors that influence algor mortis.

Algor mortis is used to determine time of death at crime scenes.

Formula to Determine Time of Death

The Glaister equation is used to determine the time of death based on the temperature of the body at the time of discovery or testing. The formula for the Glaister equation is in Fahrenheit, but it is based on an ambient temperature in degrees Celsius. If the ambient temperature is above 32 degrees C, then the equation is:

{eq}frac{98.4-T}{1.5^{o}/hour}=Time {/eq}

The T is equal to the temperature measurement of the body. The time is the number of hours the person has been dead. If the ambient temperature is less than or equal to 32 degrees C, then the equation is:

{eq}frac{98.4-T}{0.75^{o}/hour}=Time {/eq}

The T is still equal to the temperature of the body in this equation, and the time is the number of hours the person has been dead.

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Why do you bury 6 feet under?

The six feet under rule for burial may have come from a plague in London in 1665. The Lord Mayor of London ordered all the “graves shall be at least six-foot deep.” The order never said why six feet. Maybe deep enough to keep animals from digging up corpses.

wytv.com - Graves 6 feet deep goes back to the 1600s | WYTV

There are plenty of reasons why a body is buried six feet under The six feet under rule for burial may have come from a plague in London in 1665. The Lord Mayor of London ordered all the “graves shall be at least six-foot deep.” The order never said why six feet. Maybe deep enough to keep animals from digging up corpses. Soil is different around the world and six feet is probably as far as you can dig down before the sides start caving in. Another explanation suggests six feet was the maximum depth a gravedigger could stand and still manage to toss dirt out of the grave using a shovel, or get in and out of the grave without needing a ladder. Six feet also helped keep bodies out of the hands of body snatchers. Medical schools in the early 1800s bought cadavers for anatomical study and dissection, and some people supplied the demand by digging up fresh corpses.

Gravesites reaching six feet helped prevent farmers from accidentally plowing up bodies.

And you had the “rule of thumb,” origin unknown, that said graves should be as deep as the dead person is tall. Today, individual states set the depth of a grave. Many say 18 inches of dirt, just a foot-and-a-half, on top of the casket lid or burial vault is fine. That’s not six feet down, it’s four feet.

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