USMAIL (say it fast and it sounds like U SMELL) (a chemistry mini project)

Smells, when I think of them I automatically think of the chocolate factory by our school and how during brunch we can smell the delicious chocolate that wafts over the school walls. But what makes it so you can smell the smell of fresh baked cookies in the living room, or the odor of the porter potty down the street. It's all due to diffusion.

It was mother's day on Sunday and my cousin brought these beautiful pink roses for the mothers in our family. They were put in a vase and after a while, we sat down to watch the Suns vs Spurs game and after a while, I started to notice this lovely flowery scent. It smelled really nice, but I wondered how I could smell it from all the way across the room!

Molecules naturally move from a high concentration to a low concentration. Since the smell of the flowers were highly concentrated in one part of the air, the smell (molecules) would gradually mix with the unscented molecules to try and create an equilibrium. This is why a scented candle makes the whole room smell nice.

Another experiment you could try with this is simply:
1. spray a febreze bottle into the air
2. wait for a while then see if you could smell the scent.
3. have several people with you, one in front of the other, so that you can see the gradual diffusion of the molecules over a period of time. (the person closest to the sprayed molecules should smell the scent first, gradually working back to the person furthest away.)

Photo credit: my dad!