# Does a person weigh more after they die? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 28, 1999, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-person-weigh-more-after-they-die/5778 "1999-12-28T01:07:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nekosoft](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c2a13f/32.png) [@Nekosoft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nekosoft)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 1999, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-person-weigh-more-after-they-die/5778/1 "1999-12-28T01:07:00Z")
## My girlfriend asked why a person gains weight after they die. I explained they don’t, what with conservation of mass and all that. She cited hair and toenails appearing to grow after expiration due to shrinkage of the skin, but I couldn’t imagine that this would increase the mass of the corpse. Is there any truth to her theory? nekosoft ---
**Author:** ![WallyM7](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5e925/32.png) [@WallyM7](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WallyM7)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 1999, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-person-weigh-more-after-they-die/5778/2 "1999-12-28T01:13:00Z")
No. ---
**Author:** ![Erroneous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71c47a/32.png) [@Erroneous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erroneous)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 1999, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-person-weigh-more-after-they-die/5778/3 "1999-12-28T02:19:00Z")
Hmmm…yeah, that theory really doesn’t make any sense. So she knows that hair and fingernails don’t actually grow after death, but she thinks that just because they APPEAR to grow, the person will weigh more? Of course, you have to factor in the weight of the soul. …someone like James Brown’s corpse will probably end up weighing about half a pound. ---
**Author:** ![Surgoshan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Surgoshan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surgoshan)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 1999, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-person-weigh-more-after-they-die/5778/4 "1999-12-28T03:25:00Z")
Um, a corpse can’t GAIN weight after it dies. The only way for a body to gain mass is if mass goes into it. Okay, maybe embalming fluid is more dense than blood, but that’s pretty much the only way. I think the case of hair and fingernails continuing to grow is simply that those cells remain alive for a little while. However, the mass for those things come straight out of the body and it’s a zero sum game (if I’m using the phrase correctly. If not, then I mean that it’s just repositioning the mass, so no weight gained). ---
**Author:** ![StrTrkr777](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@StrTrkr777](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StrTrkr777)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 1999, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-person-weigh-more-after-they-die/5778/5 "1999-12-28T03:30:00Z")
Maybe she is also thinking that since sometimes people seem to swell after they die. Again no gain in weight or mass. Jeffery ---
**Author:** ![NanoByte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecc23a/32.png) [@NanoByte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NanoByte)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 1999, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-person-weigh-more-after-they-die/5778/6 "1999-12-28T03:44:00Z")
Maybe fly nits added to get some maggots going? Ray (What action does your girlfriend have in mind, I wonder?) ---
**Author:** ![Nekosoft](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c2a13f/32.png) [@Nekosoft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nekosoft)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 1999, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-person-weigh-more-after-they-die/5778/7 "1999-12-28T05:21:00Z")
Neko’s girlfriend here: Perhaps when one is alive or awake, it is “easier” to lift them, causing them to appear lighter. In my history with small pets dying, they seem heavier shortly after death. Also, when carrying rigid persons at a hospital I worked at, it took two people to lift someone I had lifted by myself at an earlier, more alive time. I’ve since wondered if there actually is any weight gain, or explanation as to why they APPEAR heavier? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 1999, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-person-weigh-more-after-they-die/5778/8 "1999-12-28T05:37:00Z")
I think what you’re noticing is a shift in the centre of gravity. The mass is now a lump, instead of a balancing human being or animal. * * * **-PIGEONMAN-** Hero For A New Millennium! [The Legend Of PigeonMan](http://www.hotkey.net.au/~guanolad/pigeonman/) - **Back in the new year!** Honest. I promise. No, really. ---
**Author:** ![Guy\_Incognito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guy_incognito/32/3920_2.png) [@Guy\_Incognito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guy_Incognito)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 1999, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-person-weigh-more-after-they-die/5778/9 "1999-12-30T04:42:00Z")
Only if you keep filling them full of lead, a’la Sonny Corleone… ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2000, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-person-weigh-more-after-they-die/5778/10 "2000-01-04T21:24:00Z")
In the early 70s, a “researcher” “proved” that a body actually weighs about a quarter pound _less_ at death. He attributed this loss to the soul having left the body. ---
**Author:** ![Nekosoft](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c2a13f/32.png) [@Nekosoft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nekosoft)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2000, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-person-weigh-more-after-they-die/5778/11 "2000-01-05T03:54:00Z")
My soul only weighs as much as a hamburger? But wait! Philosopher Milhous Van Houten clearly states when speaking of the soul: > [@](#): > > Oh, it can swim. It’s even got wheels in case you die in the desert and it has to drive to the cemetery. Hmmm… ---
**Author:** ![NanoByte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecc23a/32.png) [@NanoByte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NanoByte)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2000, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-person-weigh-more-after-they-die/5778/12 "2000-01-05T07:47:00Z")
Depends how much soul food you’ve eaten. Ray (no soul, just a black box, so they can tell what went wrong. . .or is that **more** wrong)