The major factor that influence the onset and duration of algor mois is

Factors Affecting Algor Mois : i. Environmental temperature (major factor): Rate of fall of body temperature is directly propoional to the difference between the temperature of the dead body and the environmental temperature. ii. Air movement: Air movement over the surface of the dead body causes a quick fall of temperature due to increased evaporation of body fluids. iii. Humidity: Cooling is more rapid in a humid rather than in a dry atmosphere, since moist air is better conductor of heat. iv. Media of disposal: Cooling is earliest in water, and late in buried bodies. The ratio of the rates of fall of temperature in the three media, water:air: soil = 4:2:1. The rate is thus maximum in water, moderate in air and minimum in a buried body. v. Built of cadaver: Obese bodies cool slowly, and lean bodies rapidly, since fat is a bad conductor of heat. vi. Age and sex: Rate of loss of heat is more in children and the elderly, compared to adults because the surface area of the body is more in relation to the body volume. Females retain body heat for a comparatively longer period because of their subcutaneous fatty tissue. vii. Clothing or coverings of the body: A well-covered body retains heat for a longer period as compared to a naked or thinly clothed body, as clothes are bad conductors of heat.