Analyzing Time of death
on police or crime TV shows such as C.S.I., the forensic investigator often asls,
"What is the TOD?" This refers to the time of death or the exact moment when a person died. Temperature is an important indicator telling investigators when a person deid. Organs that respond most quickly to changes in body temperature are the liver and the brain, and it's dueto their mass and density. By analyzing these organs, a coroner can tell the TOD. After desth, a person's body temperature start to lower to that of the surrounding environment at a rate of 1.27 degrees Celsius per hour. Normal body temoerature is 30.5 degrees Celsius. So if the police find a murder victim with a body temperature of 25.4 degrees at1:30 a.m., the person is likely to have been killed4-5 hours before.
Rigor Mortis
Another factor forensic investigators look at in adead body is rigor mortis. This latin term describes the state of a dead body. A few hours after a person dies (depending on conditions), the joints of dead body stiffen and become locked in place. rigor mortis is caused by chemical changs in the body after death due to oxygen depletion and the buildup of calcuim outside the body's cells. This allows muscle fibers to move. but since a dead body is no longer receiving oxygen, calcium builds up causing the muscle to stiffen up and contract