Time Of Death Calculator

Written by Great Medico

Updated September 25, 2026 •2 min read

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Body cooling after death is a classic forensic clue, but it is also one of the easiest clues to oversimplify. This calculator demonstrates a very rough temperature-based estimate of time since death; it is not a forensic determination of the time of death.

What this calculator does

The tool asks for measured body temperature and ambient temperature. It converts them to Fahrenheit internally and estimates elapsed hours from the difference between 98.6°F and the measured body temperature using a fixed cooling rate selected by ambient temperature.

How to use it

Enter temperatures only if they are reliable measurements and use the correct units. The result should be viewed as an educational estimate. In real forensic work, the site and method of temperature measurement, scene conditions and postmortem interval all affect interpretation.

How the calculation works

When ambient temperature is at least 32°F, the engine uses a cooling factor of 0.75°F per hour; below 32°F it uses 1.5°F per hour. Estimated hours = (98.6°F − body temperature) ÷ cooling factor. If body temperature exceeds the normal-temperature reference, the calculator rejects the estimate.

Example

With a body temperature of 34°C (93.2°F) and ambient temperature of 20°C (68°F), the tool uses 0.75°F/hour. The difference from 98.6°F is 5.4°F, producing an estimate of about 7.2 hours.

How to interpret the result

Do not read 7.2 hours as a precise time of death. It is simply the output of a fixed-rate algor-mortis teaching model. Real postmortem cooling is nonlinear and can be altered by body size, clothing, airflow, water, fever before death, surface contact and many other factors.

Limitations and notes

Professional death investigation integrates scene evidence, rigor and livor mortis, temperature models, medical history and other findings. This calculator should never be used to make legal, investigative or clinical conclusions. If a death has occurred, follow local emergency and medicolegal procedures.