we’ve got important news for you:

One of these days,

you’re going to die.

Well, hopefully it’s not going to happen today,

so now that we’ve caught you

while living, we want to hit you

with some science so you’re aware

of what goes on, after you’re gone.

Let’s say hypothetically that you

were to just slump over dead

in your chair right now.

So, what happens next?

Well, because your heart is

no longer pumping, your blood stops

flowing and coagulates - forming clots

and becoming really thick and lumpy.

As as your blood is no longer

circulating, it settles where gravity

forces it to – a process called

post-mortem hypostasis or livor mortis.

Without circulation, your body

temperature also drops and your muscles

stiffen in the process known as rigor mortis

(onscreen text: Latin for “stiffness of death”)

Now, obviously you aren’t breathing any more.

No respiration means no oxygen

is getting to your cells.

Without oxygen in your cells,

the mitochrondria inside can’t

make ATP, a chemical used for

a host of cellular tasks.

If your cells can’t make ATP,

your cells stop working.

In otherwords, you’re dead.

With your cells now kaput,

they start to break down and release

all sorts of stuff including enzymes.

That makes for an environment that is

very attractive to bacteria and fungi,

which eventually enter the mix and

start decomposing, or putrefying the body.

This process certainly isn’t pretty,

but it’s definitely normal.

Now before you’re buried or cremated,

your family may want a funeral.

To slow the decomposition process and

keep you looking tidy, chemistry comes

in handy via a process called embalming.

The embalming process happens in two steps.

First, your body is going to be loaded

full of preservative chemicals like

formaldehyde or glutaraldehyde using

a pump and your circulatory system.

Next, all your stomach contents get sucked

out and all the dark nether regions

untouched by the circulatory system

are filled up with the same chemicals.

While the embalming process does

offer more time for your family to

bid farewell to a you that mostly

looks like you, it is only temporary,

then it’s back to decomposition.

During the decomposition process,

a huge array of chemical byproducts

are spewed out by bacteria.

Two in particular, putrecine and

cadaverine smell absolutely disgusting,

I mean really, they smell like a dead body.

Sulfur containing compounds are also

produced, which smells like rotten

egg and skunk, along with countless

other gases that work together, to

temporarily make you more bloated

than you ever were while living.

Ok, so we’ve heard that some say

that your hair and nails keep

growing after you die.

But, let’s see what mortician/youtuber

Caitlin Doughty from The Order of

the Good Death has to say about that.

“The hair on your head grows a tiny

amount everyday, But when you die

those processes stop.

For thousands of years,

people thought that the dead’s

hair and fingernails kept growing

after death, because that’s what

it looked like to the naked eye.

But it’s not that the hair and nails

are growing, it’s that the rest of

your body is shrinking.

When you die, your body dehydrates

and the formally moisturized

plump skin shrivels.

Revealing not growth but what

was already there to begin with.”

Okay, so now you’ve got a

good sense of what happens

when you can sense no more.

And while it may seem like

a dark topic, just remember,

live life to the fullest!

Learn more chemistry while you

still can, do yourself a favor

and hit that subscribe button!

And be sure to check out Caitlin’s

channel too for more facts about

the end of your life. She’s also

got an awesome new book out,

the link is in the description below.

Click that button to the right

to subscribe to her channel.

Big shoutout to ACS Webinars

for hooking us up with the

chemistry of Death webinar,

these folks have got tons

of cool chem videos,

subscribe to their channel,

learn something new, and

we’ll see you again soon, chemheads.