What causes that indescribable scent when it first starts to rain?
In: Chemistry
I was told it is largely a clay/mineral called Kaolinite. In the distance, where it is raining, the Kaolinite gets wet and releases that distinctive smell that is then carried on the wind for you to smell.
May be untrue, but the college proffessor of minerology that was teaching the class had a sample of Kaolinite and if you wetted it and then smelled it, it was exactly that smell.
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