Human Body Buoyancy: A Study of 98 Men

Abstract

The specific gravity and buoyancy of 98 men were calculated at various lung volumes. The data indicated that all subjects would be capable of floating in either freshwater or seawater at total lung capacity. At functional residual capacity, the value approximating the lung volume of a recently dead body, 69% of the subjects would float in seawater, whereas only 7% would float in freshwater. Results of this study indicate that while drowned bodies are more likely to sink than bodies dead of other causes, no conclusion regarding the cause of death can be made on the basis of whether bodies float or sink.