Question

Give reasons for the following observation:
The smell of hot sizzling food reaches you several meters away, but to get the smell from cold food you have to go close.

Answer 1

• We can smell the hot sizzling food from several meters away because while the food is hot so at a high temperature the molecules diffuse into the air at a faster rate and travel a longer distance.
• On the other hand when the food is cold vapour diffuses at a slower rate and hence does not travel a longer distance.
• Therefore, the smell of hot sizzling food reaches you several meters away, but to get the smell of cold food you have to go close.