Since there is a speed of light and a speed of sound, is there a speed of smell?

Question

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Answer 1

First, notice that there is a speed of light, but not a speed of vision; and there is a speed of sound, but not a speed of hearing.

So the measurable speeds relate to the things that our senses detect, not the speed of the senses. Your question SHOULD be whether there is a speed of the things that our noses detect. And most of your responders answered the question in terms of how fast the smelly molecules travel through the air and into your nose.

One thing that other responders have not mentioned is that airflow affects how long it takes the molecules to reach your nose. Simply stated, if you live halfway between a bakery and a sewage treatment plant, you will be able to tell which way the wind is blowing.

Answer 2

The reason you smell things is because extremely tiny particles of that substance come into your body through your nose and/or mouth when you breathe in. Most (if not all?) particles are constantly in motion and will move at different speeds depending on their physical and chemical properties (e.g. temperature, mass, etc.) as well as the conditions around them. The "speed" at which you smell something could also be affected by your own physiology.

Answer 3

There is not a specific number like there is for light and sound (although even those change depending on the material it's passing through).

When you smell something, it's your nose detecting particles in the air. Those particles will move depending on diffusion rates, wind speeds, etc.

Answer 4

The speed with which a smell travels depends on how fast the molecules are going, how massive they are, the relative temperature of the molecules making the smell, and how many molecules there are in a given volume, their density.

Just think of this next time you enter a public bathroom. Smell is actually receiving a molecule of the source into your nose.

Answer 5

No. Smell comes from particles given off from the smelly object (i.e a rose). It's carried by the air and into receptors in our nose. In case your wondering, there's no speed of touch or taste either

Answer 6

There is, put there are too many factors that could make it a constant speed. Pressure, temperature, density of air, and volume of room and/or space all come into play. Look at dispersion stuff in chemistry books.

Answer 7

Light actually exist - photons.
Sound actually exist - energy waves.

Smell does not exist - it is a sensation of beings ( ability to interpret particles as a specific smell).

It is the same as asking how fast touch travels - it is a sensation of the being.

Answer 8

light doesn't travel through smell in order for you to smell things.
so no, but their may be some sort of speed of smell who knows

Answer 9

I suppose there is-- that is, it could theoretically be calculated. But it is not a constant like the other two. It depends on the particles that trigger smell, how they're moving, your breathing, etc.

Answer 10

smell is just characteristic of particle.hence speed of smell is same as that of its particle