Science · 6 pages · 12 min
Why petrichor smells like rain
Rain smells earthy because drops fling plant oils and bacterial geosmin off dry ground.
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From the opening
Petrichor is the earthy smell of rain on dry ground, from oils that plants leave behind and from geosmin made by soil bacteria, both lofted into the air when drops hit. The smell is the ground's chemistry becoming airborne, and it is not the water itself that smells. The opening covers plant oils stored in dry soil, geosmin from soil bacteria, and drops launch aerosols of both.
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Inside
- Plant oils stored in dry soil
- Geosmin from soil bacteria
- Drops launch aerosols of both
- Water vapor itself has no scent
- Where the idea stops applying
- A distinction worth keeping
Sources
- Petrichor as plant oils released by rain
- Geosmin from soil actinobacteria