BODY TEMPERATURE MODELS OF BODY COOLING
After death, body temperature progressively declines until it reaches the temperature of its surrounding.
The cooling of a body (also called 'algor mortis') is determined by physical rules and involves four different mechanisms of heat transfer: conduction, radiation, convection and evaporation.
hen temperature is plotted against time, the postmortem cooling of the human body is best represented by a sigmoid or biexponential curve that comprises three successive periods:
• An initial phase, in which the body temperature remains relatively even - the so-called 'temperature plateau' or 'lag period'. This period usually lasts 0.5-3 h, with important (and unpredictable)inter-individual variations.
• An intermediate phase, in which temperature drops rapidly and almost linearly.
• A terminal phase, in which this drop progressively slows as the core temperature approaches that of the environment.
Source: TIME SINCE DEATH
