What is the difference between burial and cremation?

• A. Burial involves placing the body in a grave, while cremation reduces the body to ashes through high heat.
• B. Cremation involves burying the body in a grave.
• C. Burial reduces body to ashes.
• D. Cremation is only for pets.

Answer: (A)

Burial and cremation differ in both process and end result. Burial places the body in a grave or tomb in the earth, where it remains and decomposes over time. Cremation uses a cremation chamber with intense heat to reduce the body to bone fragments, which are then processed into ashes. So the essential difference is placing the body in a grave versus reducing it to ashes with high heat. After burial, remains are typically interred in the ground; after cremation, the cremated remains can be kept in an urn, buried, or scattered, depending on the family's wishes.