Orphan Rights

ScienceSYSTEMNo one knows howmany varieties ofodors there are innatureiIt is quite easy for you todescribe those things yousee or hear. Yet generally, wehave considerable difficultyin putting any name to asmell. We try to describe itby comparing it to someother smell; and tend todescribe the feelings thosearomas awaken in us. Werefer to those smells we likeas “nice” or pleasant, and tothose we do not as “bad” orunpleasant, because a greatmany smells we encounterin our daily lives do not haveactual names.What we refer to as a smellis actually a reaction tochemical particles-in otherwords, molecules-given off byan object. The origin of thesmell of freshly ground coffeethat you find so delightful isactually the floating airbornemolecules emanating fromit. The more of these aregiven off, the stronger thearoma. The reason why abaking cake smells so muchmore strongly than a staleone is because the cake inthe oven is emitting so manymore scent particles. Scentmolecules begin movingin the air more freely underthe effect of heat, and areable to disperse over a widearea. But be aware thatdelicate balances havebeen specially arrangedfor human life. There arematerials such as stone,iron and glass around youthat you cannot smell,because these substancesdo not vaporize at roomtemperature. But assume fora moment that everything inyour room suddenly begangiving off aromas: Can youimagine how disturbingand even life-changing thatwould be?Another interestingfact is that althoughwater vaporizes at roomtemperature and evenbelow, it has no odor. Thisspecial feature in wateris most important, sinceit means that there is nodifference between the scentof a dried rose and one thathas been freshly wateredand still has droplets on itspetals. In other words, therose’s natural perfume isunimpaired. Furthermore, thewater vapor, or moisture, inthe air actually strengthensthe effect of any existingsmell. For instance, watermolecules that vaporize aftera downpour of rain raisescent particles up into the airand assist in spreading thescent of flowers all around.No one knows how manyvarieties of odors there arein nature. Bearing in mindthe existence of millions ofmolecules, we may safelysay that the variety of scentsAn Islamic Periodical Magazine - Issue No 18 June 2010 53