Eli5: Why sometimes it is hard to get rid of the smell even though you cleaned and removed the source causing it?
In: Chemistry
The actual source of the smell does not enter your nose, only molecules from the source. Eliminating those molecules is tougher than eliminating the source of the molecules.
Some molecules will “smell” even if they are in the parts per million range. You may have removed the source, but there may still be leftovers. Think of stains on carpet and the like, it is quite hard to completely remove whatever was there completely.
At other times, it’s just that there are molecules in the air that are still around and after some time, the concentration will go down enough that we won’t smell it anymore.
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