PLEASE without being graphic, but where does everything go? Ashes are just the carbon that you contained? I don’t know what else makes us up, but must be released into the atmosphere or something no?
I’m a big fan of Neil Degrass Tyson’s videos, and learning about the universe is basically my substitute for religion. My sister died yesterday after a battle with cancer. And being the sciencey astro nerd of an uncle, I need a little better understanding of what makes us up, to explain what remains to get used again. To her 16 yo daughter who isn’t particularly religious either, but is obviously in a pretty sensitive state, as am I. Looking for comfort.
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Your body is mostly water, which will evaporate during cremation, releasing into the atmosphere as water vapor/steam. The carbon in your body would mostly be converted to CO2 during cremation, which also ends up in the atmosphere.
The ashes left behind are mostly minerals like calcium phosphates and sodium or potassium salts. A little bit of carbon is left behind in the ashes as carbonate.
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