2006-07-13 14:45:41 · 11 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Other - Science
There isn't a speed of sound. There is A speed of light, but not A speed of sound. Sound speed varies due to the density and elastic moduli of what it is traveling through. Light has A speed in a vacuum but it goes slightly slower in air, quite a bit slower in water, slower yet in glass, slowest in diamond, etc. Sound can't travel through a vacuum due to the lack of particles, so it can't have A speed in a vacuum.
Smell is not a wave phenomenon. As such, it doesn't have a speed. But.....it can diffuse at different speeds. The less dense (thinner) and atmosphere is and the smaller its particles, the faster particles that we can smell can move through it because there are fewer particles getting in the way of the smell moving from one side of a confined space to the other by diffusion.
All this response, and you just thought you were asking a rhetorical question......
2006-07-13 14:53:24 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Technically, no. Smells are simply atoms coming off of a substance.
However, you could spin this a bit in order to say yes in some cases. The sound created from flatulance has a speed. It's usually not after the sound that the smell is noticed. In that single case, you can say that the speed of smell is approximately equal to the speed of sound.
Yes, the speed at which those gases exit the body has been measured.
2006-07-13 14:51:22 · answer #2 · answered by jlowe82 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes. It's directly proportional to the "smelliness" of the object or person that it's eminating from. This is why you can instantly smell a bum sitting on the bus or in a crowded movie theatre while you're eating your snacks (so your food begins to taste what he smells like), but you can't smell the Herbal Essences on a fine honey until she walks right past you.
2006-07-13 15:07:44 · answer #3 · answered by Tony, ya feel me? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
LOL!! That is so funny because I actualy use the phrase as fast as the speed of smell. So if you as me YES!!! Well at least according to me and my friends.
2006-07-13 14:49:57 · answer #4 · answered by Justbeingme 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Actually, yes. Graham's Law of gas diffusion states that the rate at which a gas diffuses throughout a volume is inversely proportional to the square root of its molecular mass. In other words, if the fart is heavy, it will propagate slower....and probably be staining....lol !!
2006-07-13 14:53:37 · answer #5 · answered by SkyWayGuy 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the speed of smell moves with the airflow and is relative to sence of smell keenness.
2006-07-13 14:50:50 · answer #6 · answered by red 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Depends on the speed of the wind or breeze that's carrying it along...
In other words, no
2006-07-13 14:55:17 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
its called wind speed
2006-07-13 14:48:56 · answer #8 · answered by repo2agent 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Five points down the drain.
Good thing you don't have to pay for them!
2006-07-13 14:51:04 · answer #9 · answered by n0witrytobeamused 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes, that is called wind velocity......you don't smell it till it gets to you, right?
2006-07-13 14:49:22 · answer #10 · answered by Mike G 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋