A corpse is discovered in a room that has its temperature held steady at 25oC. The CSI ocers ar- rive at 2pm and the temperature of the body is 33oC. at 3pm the body's temperature is 31oC. Assuming Newton's law of cooling and that the temperature of the living person was 37oC, what was the approximate time of death

Around 0:35 Pm or 12:35 Am

Explanation:

The equation that describes the cooling of objects can be written as:

T(t) = Ta + (Ti - Ta)*e^(k*t)

Where Ta is the ambient temperature, here Ta = 25°C.

Ti is the initial temperature of the body, we have Ti = 37°C.

t is the time.

k is a constant.

So our equation is:

T(t) = 25°C +12°C*e^(k*t)

at 2pm, the temperature was 33°C

at 3pm, the temperature was 31°C.

we want to find the hour where we have our t = 0, suppose this hour is X.

then we can write our times as:

2pm ---> 2 - X

3pm > 3 - X

and our equations are:

33°C = 25°C + 12°C*e^(k2 - k*X)

31° = 25°C + 12°C*e^(k3 - k*X)

So we have two equations and two variables, let's solve the system.

first, simplify it a bit, for the first eq:

33 - 25 = 12*e^(k2 - k*X)

8/12 = e^(k2 - k*X)

ln(8/12) = k*2 - k*X

for the second equation we have:

31 - 25 = 12*e^(k3 - k*X)

6/12 = e^(k3 - k*X)

ln(6/12) = k*3 - k*X

So our equations are:

1) ln(2/3) = 2*k - X*k

2) ln(1/2) = 3*k - X*k

First, let's isolate one of the variables in one of the equations. let's isolate k in the first equation.

ln(2/3)/(2-X) = k

now we can replace it in the second equation:

ln(1/2) = 3*ln(2/3)/(2 - X) - X*ln(2/3)/(2-X)

now let's solve it for X, i will take a = ln(1/2) and b = ln(2/3) so it is easier to read.

a = 3*b/(2 - X) - X*b/(2 - X)

a*(2 - X) = 3*b - X*b

2a - aX = 3b - Xb

X(a - b) = 2a - 3b

X = (2*ln(1/2) - 3*ln(2/3))/(ln(1/2) - ln(2/3)) = 0.590

now, knowing that one hour has 60 minutes, then this is:

0.59*60m = 35 minutes

So the hour of death is 0:35 Pm or 12:35 Am

more than, less

less than, more