"Ah, I love the smell right after it rains!" How many times have we all heard this? But what exactly makes that common fragrance?
We scientists have three possible hypotheses.
1.) A bacteria called Geosmin. Geosmin lives in soil and when it gets wet it releases a special scent.
2.) In dry conditions, plants secrete oils on their leaves, through their stems, on the ground right around the plant. This oil serves almost as a blanket and keeps moisture inside the plant. When it rains, these oils start to chemically change and they become something called Petrichor. Petrichor has a very distinctive smell that we often associate with rain.
3.) Lastly, and as my personal favorite, lightning! When lightning strikes, due to its heat, it splits Oxygen bonds. This makes oxygen go from O2 to two sperate O1 molecules. If one of those O1 molecules were to combine with a different, standard Oxygen O2 molecule, they combine. This creates O3. While that sounds very complicated, it isn't. We know O3...it is Ozone. The Ozone layer has a very distinctive smell as well.
So, whether its a bacteria, plants, or lighting, these are the culprits of the smell that many of us have grown to favor. They might not be blissful enough for a candle, but they sure are scientific!
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