Does smelling something actually means inhaling some of it's particles?

Question

When you smell Orange juice for an examble does that mean we're inhaling small particles from the juice? if not then what is the matter of smell (odor, perfume)?

Answer 1

At times yes, but quite often the smell is just one compound commonly associated with that substance. For instance, the smell of dirt (soil, earth) is largely a microbial byproduct (made by bacteria) geosmin.

Answer 2

In a way, yes, you are inhaling some volatile constituent of the stuff you are smelling, and those constituents are already evaporated off the object by the time you are smelling them. But it is important to note that you are not smelling the whole thing, just some components. For instance, no matter how much sugar would be put in you orange juice, the smell would not change. Likewise, if someone would dump salt in your juice, it would still smell as good, as salt is not volatile enough to be detected by smell.
That is also the reason hot stuff smell more than cold ones: the extra heat allows more of the volatile compounds to take to the air.

Answer 3

YES & NO

The odor or smell as we sense it, is nothing but a part of vapours, not particles emanating from that article.

This does not imply that if you smell a rose hard enough- you will inhale the whole rose- only the odoriferous and volatile parts of it vaporise. Same for Orange juice or whatever.

However, talking about perfumes- the sweet smelling compounds are dispersed in hghly volatile media- like spirit, alcohol, etc to enable faster evaporation and spread of the perfume.

Answer 4

Inhaling Means

Answer 5

I think so. Whatever we smell is probably in the air, thus it's in a gas state. So I guess we're smelling the particles, which is in a gas state. We have receptors in our nose that gets activated when it senses odor. Then it relays this information to our brain. I'm not sure being able to smell something actually requires inhaling. Doesn't inhaling mean moving into the lungs?

Answer 6

The $mell of $hit comes from chemicals called indoles and skatoles, NOT methane primarily. And those indoles and skatoles are a part of poop. So in a technical sense yes, you inhaling "particles of poop" when you smell someone's fart, but at a molecular level. These particles are WAY too small, much smaller than bacteria, and so do not cause disease. By the way, not everyone's poop has disease-causing bacteria. I'd say MOST people don't have them.

Answer 7

Well, does that mean if you smell another person you're inhaling particles of them?

Answer 8

well yes,
something carries the smell like pheramones
if you smell enough people smoking grass ,you will get stoned
if you smell enough tobaco smoke it will affect you


if you keep smelling a steak frying for long enough ,you may smell the whole steak away
ha ha (this was a joke)

Answer 9

when matter changes directly from solid form to gas... sublimation

when the already-turned-into-gas orange juice molecule tickles your cilia to tell your brain its orange juice.... smell is not matter... its a sensation...

Answer 10

Yes, those particle hit your nose inside.

Th