Friday, January 4, 2013

Same shape, different smell!?

Linalool and Geraniol. These are two substances that have the same molecular formula, similar (almost identical) molecule structures, but two very different smells. I was amazed today as I thought about smells how two different substances that are so similar at the molecular level can be so different when perceived by the human brain. Fructose and glucose, artificial vanilla and natural vanilla, artificial almond and natural almond, hexane and 22 Dimethyl, and the list goes on. All of these substances are nearly the same to one another but when tested by the human brain via taste, smell, or sight they are increasingly different. 

Smell is one sense that I am constantly aware of. Before today I never thought of smell as a chemical formula, but to think that every scent has its own individual formula (though some can be very similar) is awesome. Our God created this world so complex, yet so amazing.

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