Do smells have “frequencies” in the same way that lights and sounds have?
In: Biology
No. Light and sounds are both rapid changes in something, which is why they are considered waves. In the case of light, an electromagnetic field is oscillating very rapidly. In the case of sound, the density of air is oscillating rapidly (although nowhere near as fast as visible light).
Smells are caused by molecules binding to olfactory receptors in your nose. They don’t need to change rapidly to be detected, although obviously they have to go from “undetectable” to “detectable”. But they don’t need to go from low to high to low to high for you to perceive them.
Na. Different lights/sounds are basically the the same thing but with different frequencies. So they are continuous. You can detect a large range with the same type of cell.
Scent (olfactory) cells however only react to specific chemicals (with about 400 different types in humans) and smells are combinations of those chemicals.
It’s sort of like how words are made of letters. Arrange letters in a certain way you get a word. But you can’t really smoothly turn one word into another like you can fade from one color or sound into another
I mean almost. Sounds travel in waves that have contracted areas and expanded areas so not uniform. Lights are a constant amount but as it expands it spreads to a larger areas it’s strength gets more spread out. Smells are aromatics that diffuse through the air. If it were perfect diffusion then it would diffuse more like light but slower but not like sound. Smell would not have frequencies.
light and sound are waves. smell is just your body’s perception of something like a gas, or the chemicals in food. apples and oranges.
In general no but Luca Turin who is a very well known perfume professional and biophyisicist has researched into the Vibration theory of Olfaction. Have a read of the book ‘The Emperor of Scent’ by Chandler Burr for an excellent run down of the idea.
while light and sound waves can actually produce a reaction such as sound waves causing vibrations, scent cannot. humans perceive light, sound, and scent by sensing something. the way we perceive this stimuli is up to our brain’s interpretation.
scent is based in the presence of a particles of mass, while light/sound waves are have no mass & are not finite or tangible the way a particle is.
No. When you smell something, small particles come into contact with relevant receptors in your nose that trigger a reaction in the nerves. Smells are literally chemicals that hit your nose receptors.
If you believe string theory… I guess so?
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