The Speed of Smell determined.

My kitchen has just become the site of one of the most important discoveries known to man... Some of the old mundane but useful constants first:

Speed of light 3 x 10^8 m/s
Avagadro's number 6.23 x 10^23
The universal electric constant 8.99 x 10^9 N*m^2/C^2
The Universal gravitational constant 6.67 x 10 ^-11 N*m^2/kg^2
pi 3.14... you take it from there

The speed of smell ~ 10.21 m/s at a pressure of 760 torr and temp. of 23 degrees C.

My cat reacted to the smell of tunafish opened by an aluminum peel off lid (Inky has never heard this sound before) in 0.49 seconds at exactly 5 meters away. He did not see the can. He does not like me that much. But he made the smell move. The measurements are fairly accurate.

I will remember all of you in my speech at Stockholm. Nobel Prize... Sweet. And I thank you.

[paisjpq]

LOL you science guys...

I won't finish that

fine work...by you and the cat.

[Bigsmc]

Originally Posted by pgardn

My kitchen has just become the site of one of the most important discoveries known to man... Some of the old mundane but useful constants first:

Speed of light 3 x 10^8 m/s
Avagadro's number 6.23 x 10^23
The universal electric constant 8.99 x 10^9 N*m^2/C^2
The Universal gravitational constant 6.67 x 10 ^-11 N*m^2/kg^2
pi 3.14... you take it from there

The speed of smell ~ 10.21 m/s at a pressure of 760 torr and temp. of 23 degrees C.

My cat reacted to the smell of tunafish opened by an aluminum peel off lid (Inky has never heard this sound before) in 0.49 seconds at exactly 5 meters away. He did not see the can. He does not like me that much. But he made the smell move. The measurements are fairly accurate.

I will remember all of you in my speech at Stockholm. Nobel Prize... Sweet. And I thank you.

Good work.

Glad you included my favorite, Avagadro's Number. Had that one drilled into my head in High School. Teacher must have been effective because I don't use it in my work or my life outside work, but I have never forgotten it.

Originally Posted by Bababooyee

1.How did you control for the superior hearing of the feline species? 2. Or time delay between perception and reaction?

3. What other uncontrolled variables can you identify?

4. Was there a control cat?

5. Any plans for a double-blind placebo follow-up?

6. And wouldn't the speed of smell be, not only dependent on atmospheric conditions, but the actual substance in question?


I can speak nerd with the best of them. I am quite fluent.

All excellent questions. I will address them all in my speech in Sweden. No, I will address them now.

1. Inky is deaf.
2. Taken to be 0.23 seconds for me. 0.11 seconds for Inky (see my previous papers on neuronal delay)
3. Yes. Too many to be counted. I want this prize bad... stop it.
4. Yes. My dog Cody.
5. I am going to go blind eventually, and so will Inky. We have a placebo in the backyard. Great shady spot in the summer for hanging out with the banjo while blottoed.
6. Yes it would. The name of the volatile chemical in question has been identified as 1,3 dihexamafishyodoroxide. We know its permitivity of free space.

Oh yes. Avagadros number is actually 6.02 X 10^23... ya missed that Mister.