Do they literally just disappear or what happens to them
In: Chemistry
When smells dissipate, the molecules responsible for the scent disperse into the air. they may eventually break down (making it harder for our noses to detect) or be carried away by air currents
the molecules/particles responsible:
– may be diluted in more air
– get stuck on a surface
– get absorbed into something solid/liquid
When you smell something it is because the particles of what you smell are interacting with receptors in your nose and you nose senses an increase in the concentration of particles of that kind. A smell goes away for two reasons:
1) the particles just get blown away and diffused in the air so the concentration drops
2) your brain stops making you aware of the particles as the concentration now is high but isn’t increasing
Something similar can be when you sit in a chair that your bum gives you the feeling of contact with a chair but it soon disappears and your brain ignores it as it isn’t a change but a constant.
First they dissipate then they; cling to surrounding objects, release their bonds, attach to other elements to create new ones.
There are some odor causing molecules that will never dissipate or be destroyed such as my dad’s farts. These types of particles have no half life and will linger even beyond the heat death of the universe.
Smells are just fumes(gases) they slowly spread across the air and thin out, you get used to the smell and thus stop registering it. Then when new air enters from ventilation the fumes gets carried away with the old air.
Put a drop of apple juice into an Olympic swimming pool. The juice is still there, it’s just so diluted all you can taste is pool water.
You have a balloon, and you let the air out of it against your hand. The air doesn’t disappear; it just spreads out into the room until you can’t feel it anymore. Smells work kind of like that.
Smells are entirely in your brain. (According to *The Body: A Guide for Occupants* by Bill Bryson, which I am currently reading.)
A smell is your brain’s reaction to the affect of airborne molecules on the nerves in your nose.
When you can’t smell the smell any longer, it’s because your brain has become habituated to that smell and ignores it. Chances are, though, that the molecules are still around.
So… your house still smells, just like it did when you first returned home. You just can’t smell it anymore. But someone new coming into your house will still smell that smell until they, in turn, become habituated to it.
If you can smell it, it is in your nose. Smell is just small particles of whatever you are smelling that get in your nose and get detected by the receptor in it, when the smells goes away it means that there is not enough of it in your nose for you to perceive it. And yes this means that when you smell poo you have tiny bits of it inside your nose.
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