# Where does the electricity on ones body go when we die? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 4, 2002, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-electricity-on-ones-body-go-when-we-die/101690 "2002-04-04T01:12:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-electricity-on-ones-body-go-when-we-die/101690/21 "2011-06-28T03:14:05Z")
**Zombie Electricity! Look out! It shocks brains!** ---
**Author:** ![glilly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/48db29/32.png) [@glilly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glilly)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-electricity-on-ones-body-go-when-we-die/101690/22 "2011-06-28T03:40:52Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > Even though the question has been sufficiently answered, I wonder if glilly is going to add anything. No, I’ve said more than enough. No, I’ve said more than enough. No, I’ve said more than enough. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-electricity-on-ones-body-go-when-we-die/101690/23 "2011-06-28T03:59:17Z")
> [@glilly](#): > > No, I’ve said more than enough. > > No, I’ve said more than enough. > > No, I’ve said more than enough. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-electricity-on-ones-body-go-when-we-die/101690/24 "2011-06-28T04:17:48Z")
> [@glilly](#): > > No, I’ve said more than enough. > > No, I’ve said more than enough. > > No, I’ve said more than enough. That was awesome. That was awesome. That was awesome. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-electricity-on-ones-body-go-when-we-die/101690/25 "2011-06-28T04:24:25Z")
> [@glilly](#): > > I think this has been sufficiently answered, but I’ma gonna answer it again because it seems the OP has the wrong idea about electricity. > > Electricity isn’t really “stuff” that can be collected or weighed, typically. It’s really more of a means of _transmitting_ energy. Think of when a generator is turned on or off. If the electricity cannot be created or destroyed, where does it come from when the generator is turned on? Where does it go when it is turned off? Electricity is just the conduit (excuse the pun) through which enery from burning coal or falling water turns the motor on your blender when making mixed drinks. > > When you die, the chemicals which react to produce electricity run out because you are no longer eating. Electricity ceases to be produced. The generator is turned off.☹ Well electricity is stuff, depending on what you mean by ‘electricity’, and what you mean by ‘stuff’. Current is a bunch of charged particles. When we die we stop chemically creating voltages that make the current move in a specific direction instead of moving around randomly. So your dead body still has plenty charged particles in it, they’re just moving around in random directions. And because the body is not a great conductor, especially if it’s been dead long enough to dry out, there isn’t a lot of stuff moving very far at all. When Dr. Frankenstein was zapping the monster with lightning he wasn’t putting electricity into the monster, he was getting the particles already in the monster moving. ---
**Author:** ![glilly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/48db29/32.png) [@glilly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glilly)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-electricity-on-ones-body-go-when-we-die/101690/26 "2011-06-28T04:30:58Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Well electricity is stuff, depending on what you mean by ‘electricity’, and what you mean by ‘stuff’. Dude. I wrote that (thrice) about a decade ago. And I was probably hammered. Looking at it now, my post isn’t worth reading. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-electricity-on-ones-body-go-when-we-die/101690/27 "2011-06-28T04:51:56Z")
It was enjoyable. And the questions regarding zombies and electricity abound. If they’re moving, is it because they have nerve impulses? Can you electrocute a zombie? Why do they crave brains? The brain part may not have anything to do with electricity, but I always wanted to know. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-electricity-on-ones-body-go-when-we-die/101690/28 "2011-06-28T05:00:29Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > It was enjoyable. And the questions regarding zombies and electricity abound. If they’re moving, is it because they have nerve impulses? Can you electrocute a zombie? Why do they crave brains? The brain part may not have anything to do with electricity, but I always wanted to know. FTFY: It was enjoyable. And the questions regarding zombies and electricity abound. If they’re moving, is it because they have nerve impulses? Can you electrocute a zombie? Why do they crave brains? The brain part may not have anything to do with electricity. \*\*But my friend wants to know. \*\* ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-electricity-on-ones-body-go-when-we-die/101690/29 "2011-06-28T10:52:36Z")
It is worth noting that a portion of the chemical energy in your body is used up during [rigor mortis](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rigor_mortis) - the muscle contraction is powered by the ATP in the muscles and triggered by unhindered calcium migration in the absence of cellular respiration. After slaughter, food animals either have to hang until rigor is released, or they are electrically stimulated before rigor to force the muscles to use up the remaining ATP. This prevents _cold shortening_ of the meat. And zombies crave ATP, from living brains. Otherwise they run out of energy, and stop. Using electricity on zombies consumes their ATP supplies faster, leaving them unable to move. But if you don’t use up all the ATP, they just get hungrier, and faster. You have been warned. Si ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-electricity-on-ones-body-go-when-we-die/101690/30 "2011-06-28T11:24:27Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Why do they crave brains? The brain part may not have anything to do with electricity, but I always wanted to know. Most zombies don’t. The trope came from The Return of the Living Dead, where the zombies are intelligent and talk. One is captured and interrogated by the survivors. Apparently being dead hurts and brains relieve the pain. ---
**Author:** ![Fourtyfold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f475e1/32.png) [@Fourtyfold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fourtyfold)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-electricity-on-ones-body-go-when-we-die/101690/31 "2011-06-28T13:07:24Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > …How long do bodily functions continue after death? Seconds? Minutes? Clearly this would vary by function and method of death. I guess it would also depend on the definition of death to some extent. Not that I’m volunteering, but if I were decapitated and seconds later someone struck my knee with that little hammer, will my muscles still twitch? If I go headless a moment before a nasty charley-horse strikes, do the muscles still contract?.. Seconds at best probably. It would’t take much time for the available oxygen to get used up, then everything starts to shut down. Anecdotally, there is the case of [Charlotte Corday](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_Corday#Trial_and_Execution) as a possible example. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-electricity-on-ones-body-go-when-we-die/101690/32 "2011-06-28T13:22:56Z")
> [@Phlosphr](#): > > Einstein postulated that : … energy cannot be created or destroyed, but only changed from one form to another … > > Well he postulated much more than just that of course, but my basic thought comes from this simple theorem. And the question I raise is this…: When we are living our bodies run on electricity. We are one big electronic impulse. So if the afore mentioned postulate is in fact correct, what happens to the electricity in our bodies when we die? Could this be an informal description of life after death? What say ye? I gets passed on to the person who decapitates you, etc. etc.. in the end there can be only one! They will receive The Prize! ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-electricity-on-ones-body-go-when-we-die/101690/33 "2011-06-28T14:23:05Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > … > > When Dr. Frankenstein was zapping the monster with lightning he wasn’t putting electricity into the monster, he was getting the particles already in the monster moving. 😕 This is a weird statement. Unless the monster was made of plasma–why not, he’s a monster–Dr. Frankenstein could have created a Monster Chia Pet, or whatever, if he felt like it. All God’s chillun got electrons. I think I would like a Monster Chia Pet, as long as it didn’t throw me down a well. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-electricity-on-ones-body-go-when-we-die/101690/34 "2011-06-28T14:58:13Z")
> [@si\_blakely](#): > > It is worth noting that a portion of the chemical energy in your body is used up during [rigor mortis](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rigor_mortis) - the muscle contraction is powered by the ATP in the muscles and triggered by unhindered calcium migration in the absence of cellular respiration. > > After slaughter, food animals either have to hang until rigor is released, or they are electrically stimulated before rigor to force the muscles to use up the remaining ATP. This prevents _cold shortening_ of the meat. > > And zombies crave ATP, from living brains. Otherwise they run out of energy, and stop. Using electricity on zombies consumes their ATP supplies faster, leaving them unable to move. But if you don’t use up all the ATP, they just get hungrier, and faster. You have been warned. > > Si Whaaaat? Dude, you’re all kinds of mixed up. First, ATP doesn’t cause muscle contraction- it releases contraction. Calcium is released, causing the myosin and actin to bind. ATP is needed to _break_ this bind, not cause it, so that the head is free to re-bind and continue the contraction. So rigor mortis sets in _after_ the ATP is used up and releases once bacteria eat the muscle, specifically the myosin heads. That’s why it doesn’t set in immediately upon death and doesn’t let go for quite some time. Shocking muscle uses up the _calcium_, not the ATP (which is already depleted). So what zombies actually crave is calcium. If we would just bury people with fresh milk, we wouldn’t have this problem. Should worse come to worst, a pack of calcium pills will be more effective than any shotgun or sharp spike. ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-electricity-on-ones-body-go-when-we-die/101690/35 "2011-06-28T15:36:39Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > Should worse come to worst, a pack of calcium pills will be more effective than any shotgun or sharp spike. Calcium pills in a shotgun shell. You don’t want to get too close… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-electricity-on-ones-body-go-when-we-die/101690/36 "2011-06-28T17:02:57Z")
> [@Cheshire\_Human](#): > > Calcium pills in a shotgun shell. You don’t want to get too close… 🙂 I gotta pack some shells with calcium chloride! Cops: Why did you shoot him full of salt? **Sparky812** : Just checking… ---
**Author:** ![SimonMoon5](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@SimonMoon5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SimonMoon5)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-electricity-on-ones-body-go-when-we-die/101690/37 "2011-06-28T18:42:49Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > For that matter, where does the energy in a D-Cell battery go when you > throw it out? Silicon Heaven? Or is that just where all the calculators go? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-electricity-on-ones-body-go-when-we-die/101690/38 "2011-06-28T21:17:08Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > 😕 This is a weird statement. Unless the monster was made of plasma–why not, he’s a monster–Dr. Frankenstein could have created a Monster Chia Pet, or whatever, if he felt like it. All God’s chillun got electrons. > > I think I would like a Monster Chia Pet, as long as it didn’t throw me down a well. IANA ElectroBiologist, but I think he was using the potential of the extremely high voltage in lightening to get electrons moving through the dead body parts. Perhaps body parts left dead for sufficient time develop a lot of neutrally charged compounds that require high voltages to free the electrons. Also, the green hue is probably due to copper based compounds injected into the monsters blood system. These would certainly enhance the general conductivity of the dead flesh. That would certainly be a neccesity with electrodes places nearly adjacent on either side of the neck. As for zombies, ATP, and calcium (is Victor VonF’s monster a zombie anyway, or is zombification a different chemical process?), why brains then? If there’s a calcium shortage, you go for the bones. I would think the zombies have a chemical deficiency in their brains or bodies that would be found in abundance in the brain. **marshmallow** , Return of the Living Dead is a parody. Although it featured great work by Linnea Quigley, it isn’t a documentary like Night of the Living Dead. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2011, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-electricity-on-ones-body-go-when-we-die/101690/39 "2011-06-29T05:14:01Z")
I never knew Frankenstein (the monster) was green. Cite? ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2011, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-electricity-on-ones-body-go-when-we-die/101690/40 "2011-06-29T05:31:05Z")
Reread the book. Yellow skin. Black hair. Yellow eyes in dun-colored sockets. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-electricity-on-ones-body-go-when-we-die/101690.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-electricity-on-ones-body-go-when-we-die/101690.md?page=3)