Part of ScienceSenses
In this video, learn about the human sense of smell and how we can detect and identify different smells.
This video can not be played
Find out how the human nose detects and identifies different smells.
Right then kids, stay close please. We鈥檙e here in the park to find out about the human sense of smell. Let鈥檚 take a closer look at this fella, shall we?
Now smells are actually made up of tiny odour molecules carried in the air. Once these molecules make their way to a human鈥檚 nose, the business of smelling begins.
Careful now, children. Don鈥檛 get too close!
Ah, Jamie, what did I tell you!
Well, as long as you鈥檙e up there, you might as well take a look around.
All those hairs on the inside of the nose help to filter and clean the air before it goes down to the lungs.
Right at the back of the nose, there鈥檚 a small patch of skin covered in special sense receptors, which work in a similar way to the taste buds on the human tongue.
When odour molecules get there, they get trapped in a layer of mucus and dissolve. Once they鈥檙e dissolved, different odours cause different receptors to fire off signals to the brain through special nerves. The brain sorts out one smell from another based on whichreceptors have sent it signals.
Humans can usually tell the difference between about 10,000 different smells. But if they鈥檝e got a bad cold, all that snot blocking their nose might stop them from being able to smell at all.
SNEEZING
Good to have you back Jamie! Now, let鈥檚 move along, shall we?
Children?
Ah鈥 Well, that rubbish does smell rather delicious. Maybe just a quick rummage!
Odour molecule - A tiny chemical particle that we detect as a particular smell
Nostril - One of the two openings in the nose that we breathe and smell through
Sense receptors - Cells that respond to something by sending messages to the brain
Mucus - Slippery, sticky substance that protects the body, for example snot in your nose
Nerves - Cells that carry messages between the brain and the rest of the body
Find out more by working through a topic
How does human taste work?
Video playlist
How does the human eye work?
How do humans hear?