What's a smell? (Example: A noise is a sound, and sound is a set of vibrating molecules in a medium.)?

Answer 1

A smell is a molecule that binds to and activates a receptor which triggers a response by the nervous system.

Answer 2

To compare smell with your definition of noise, which did not involve the receiver of the sound, ( if you do not hear it, is there really a sound?), you can state that smell is any set of characteristic chemicals in vapor or gaseous form ( since it has to travel in air into the nose) that can travel through air.

The characteristics of these chemicals is such that it can have different degrees of responses- nice, bad and deadly, bad and trashy, fruity, banana-like, strawberry-like, armpit-like. This is very much like noise with different pitches and loudness levels

Answer 3

the smell of an object is the result of molecules escaping the compound or mixture. notice that reactive compounds such as acids smell more pungent that other compounds like water(almost no smell at all). this is a cause of greater number of molecules in the air that triggers the reaction in our nose.

Answer 4

A smell is chemicals/molecules that are airborne and attach themselves to receptors in the nasal cavity. The brain can detect many many different smells. More than it can tastes. In fact your sense of smell has a lot more to do with taste than your tongue does.

Answer 5

You smell things when the particles of the food evaporates into vapours and drifts to your nose. Then, you will smell something like fragrance or sometimes unfortunately pungent smells. Lol.

Answer 6

Odiferous dissolved molecules in the air.

Answer 7

An odor? Scent?

Answer 8

a smell would be a gas, i would think. that is a really good question!!

Answer 9

fragrant and/or rank molecules

Answer 10

a scent?