Final answer:
The human body cools down to ambient temperature using internal mechanisms like sweating. In a deceased body, it cools down passively, a process used in forensic science to determine time of death. Time of death can also be estimated with other methods like rigor mortis and livor mortis.
Step-by-step explanation:
The process by which the human body cools down to ambient temperature involves temperature regulation by the body's internal systems. During normal conditions, bodily functions such as sweating and respiration facilitate heat loss. Sweat evaporates from the skin, taking with it the body's heat and cooling it down - a higher rate of evaporation is observed on drier days and a lower one on humid days due to differences in atmospheric water concentration.
However, in a deceased body, this metabolic process ceases, and the body begins to cool towards the ambient temperature, a process known as algor mortis. Factors such as body size and local weather conditions can influence the rate of this cooling. Larger organisms lose heat faster due to a greater surface area to mass ratio. Post-mortem cooling is significant in forensic science as it helps estimate the time of death.
Comparatively, there are other methods to determine the time of death, such as rigor mortis (muscle stiffening) and livor mortis (blood pooling), which each occur under particular time frames after death. Each method has its advantages and limitations and may be used in tandem for more accurate estimations.
Learn more about Body Cooling here