The science of death

Gardenlover

Gardenlover

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If energy cannot be created or destroyed, what happens to our life energy when we die?
 

An AI assistant called claude.ai :

The principles of physics state that energy can neither be created nor destroyed, but only transformed from one form to another. So when it comes to the "life energy" present in living beings, that energy does not simply disappear after death. Here's what happens to it:

  1. Chemical energy: Much of the energy that powers life processes in our body is stored in chemical compounds like ATP. When we die, these chemical energy stores get depleted through entropy and thermodynamic processes of decomposition.
  2. Thermal energy: As the chemical reactions wind down after death, the stored thermal energy (heat) dissipates into the surrounding environment through cooling of the body.
  3. Electromagnetic energy: There are tiny electromagnetic energy flows in the form of nerve impulses and organic processes happening constantly in living cells. After death, these gradually cease.
  4. Kinetic energy: The kinetic energy associated with activities like breathing, muscle movements, heart pumping etc. gets transferred to the environment through terminal motions.
  5. Radiant energy: Living beings also emit small amounts of infrared and other radiation which stops after death.
So in essence, the life energy that sustained metabolic activities does not truly get destroyed - it just gets dispersed and redistributed to the surroundings through physical processes like decomposition, heat transfer, entropy etc. in accordance with the laws of thermodynamics.

The matter and energy that constituted the living organism merges back into the perpetual cycles and transformations of energy and matter in the physical universe after death. No energy is created or destroyed, it just transitions form.
 
Paco Dennis said:
An AI assistant called claude.ai :

The principles of physics state that energy can neither be created nor destroyed, but only transformed from one form to another. So when it comes to the "life energy" present in living beings, that energy does not simply disappear after death. Here's what happens to it:

  1. Chemical energy: Much of the energy that powers life processes in our body is stored in chemical compounds like ATP. When we die, these chemical energy stores get depleted through entropy and thermodynamic processes of decomposition.
  2. Thermal energy: As the chemical reactions wind down after death, the stored thermal energy (heat) dissipates into the surrounding environment through cooling of the body.
  3. Electromagnetic energy: There are tiny electromagnetic energy flows in the form of nerve impulses and organic processes happening constantly in living cells. After death, these gradually cease.
  4. Kinetic energy: The kinetic energy associated with activities like breathing, muscle movements, heart pumping etc. gets transferred to the environment through terminal motions.
  5. Radiant energy: Living beings also emit small amounts of infrared and other radiation which stops after death.
So in essence, the life energy that sustained metabolic activities does not truly get destroyed - it just gets dispersed and redistributed to the surroundings through physical processes like decomposition, heat transfer, entropy etc. in accordance with the laws of thermodynamics.

The matter and energy that constituted the living organism merges back into the perpetual cycles and transformations of energy and matter in the physical universe after death. No energy is created or destroyed, it just transitions form.
Click to expand...
Or that.
 
Life energy? Not sure which branch of physics covers that however I'll make a few comments.

The heat energy we had when alive dissipates to our surroundings until we are at ambient temperature. The chemical energy that animated our bodies is lost in the form of heat as our tissues decay. When cremated, that process is accelerated.

I know that isn't the answer you were seeking but we are no different to any other animal. Where do you suppose the life energy of a dog, a cow or an elephant goes after death?

I see that Paco Dennis has answered more fully. See reply #2
 
If all depends on what you mean by "life force". If you mean "life force" in a physical way, then Paco Davis gave a good response. If you mean "life force" in a spiritual way, then the laws of physics don't apply.
 
Everything in life is energy transfer. If you ate a fish for dinner last night, the stored energy from the fish is absorbed by your small intestine and now that energy is transferred to you. When you die (Assuming you are buried), you will sooner or later become part of nature again, which is a wonderful thing. It's immortality. The trees and everything else in nature has died a million times over, and yet they are still there. Death is not wasted in nature. It becomes life again, and so can you.
 
As stated in so many ways above, we do not "die" so much as change form and state. We go on just as we always have, becoming something new.
 

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