Where do smells go? Do the particles just disperse into the air around it?

Question

Where do smells go? Do the particles just disperse into the air around it?

In: Chemistry

Answer 1

They get diluted. And at one point, the molecules are so dilute and rare that the nose can no longer sense them against everything else that’s there.

In the long run, the molecules that make up the smell (like almost any other air contaminant) will be broken down by sunlight or caught in raindrops and deposited on the ground.