Chemistry Stack Exchange
Chemistry Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [smell]

For questions regarding the chemical processes or chemicals involved in distinguishable smells

This tag should be applied to chemistry questions which involve one of the human senses - Olfaction - or the odor behind them. The question must be about the chemical process or the chemicals that cause the specific odor behind a natural phenomenon. Under-researched questions might be identified as questions per community consensus, and dealt with in accordance to our homework policy.

Please check the help center to ensure that your question is a good fit for Chemistry.StackExchange before posting it. The existence of this tag by no means indicates that all -related questions are on-topic.

100 questions
3
votes
0 answers

Why do old buildings in the UK smell like ammonia / boar taint?

As a US resident who visited the UK, I was surprised that many wooden buildings built before say 1800 smelled strongly of pork, an ammonia-like smell but most precisely like boar taint. I have never smelled this in old buildings in other…
fritzo
  • 163
  • 3
2
votes
0 answers

Is there any way of guessing what a compound smells like?

I am aware that we can predict the colours of compounds, on the basis of their electron transition energies, and many other physical properties (on the basis of other theories.) Smell works in an inherently different manner, as the compound binds…
Abhigyan
  • 1,667
  • 1
  • 14
  • 36
2
votes
0 answers

Why does formic acid smell like getting hit in the head?

I was cleaning up a concentrated formic acid spill and when I was close enough to the hood to get a whiff it smelled exactly like the smell sensation from hitting my head. We know that olfactory memory is very keen. While many people identify a…
feetwet
  • 3,290
  • 1
  • 27
  • 64
2
votes
1 answer

What is it in the composition of natural fabrics that cause them to retain smoke odors versus synthetics?

Just an observation I notice when around smoker friends or when I visit Las Vegas - polyester clothing doesn't seem to stay smelling of smoke for the rest of the day like my cotton shirts do (or also my hair for that matter).
squidlydeux
  • 123
  • 3
1
vote
0 answers

There are three things in the world that smell like fish. But why?

As a philospher once said, there are three things in the world that smell like fish. One of them is fish. What connects these three things that gives them this particular, characteristic smell? What chemical exactly do we smell?
mike glenndale
  • 119
  • 2
0
votes
0 answers

Synthetic version of foot odor

I'd like to produce a synthetic version of foot odor for joke purposes. My company sells novelties. What could I use to create something virtually identical? Would simply mixing the correct proportions of 3-Methylbutanoic acid, Propionic acid,…
banjoisland
  • 9
  • 2
0
votes
1 answer

How do I reduce the smell of store-bought liquid soap?

I recently bought a brand of liquid soap I've never used before and it turns out they formulated it with a bit too much of the scent ingredients, to the point where I find it gets uncomfortably close to nauseating during use, and also it persists…
Don Joe
  • 3
  • 2
-3
votes
1 answer

Smell through Plastic

Can smell go through plastic bags/gloves? If it can, does the things in the bag ACTUALLY touch you? Like cat poop, if it's in the bag my hands starts smelling but I don't feel it on my hands or see it on my hands. So is the cat poop on my hands or…
Muhammad Abubakar
  • 1
  • 1