Eli5: Why does cold food not emitt any powerful scent?
In: Biology
Because you can’t smell food. You can’t smell any solid. What happens with smell is that molecules evaporate (liquid to gas) or sublimate (solid to gas) and that gas goes up your nose when you breath. Once in your nose the molecules will bind to all kinds of nerves and that is how you smell. This is true of any smell. The process of sublimation and evaporation is faster as the food is hotter. Think how a hot soup puts off steam but a cold one doesn’t. This makes the concentration of sent molecules less in the air so the smell isn’t as intense.
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