What is the term for the body’s natural process of cooling postmortem?

The process of the body cooling after death is termed algor mortis. This phenomenon occurs as the body loses heat to the surrounding environment, typically at a predictable rate. The temperature of a deceased body usually drops at about 1 to 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit per hour until it reaches the ambient temperature. Understanding algor mortis is crucial in forensic science, as it helps establish the time of death, which can be vital in investigations.

Other terms mentioned, such as hypostasis, refer to the gravitational shift of blood and bodily fluids after death, while rigor mortis describes the stiffening of muscles that occurs postmortem. Cadaveric spasm is an immediate stiffening of the muscles that may occur in instances of traumatic death, but it is not related to the cooling process. Therefore, algor mortis is the correct term to describe the body's natural cooling process after death.