Natural and Artificial Scents

Do People Still Have a Good Sense of Smell?

For my project I tested the sense of smell on a few people. I am trying to find out if people lose their sense of smell throughout the years. I have always been curious about this topic because sometimes I ask people if they can smell the aroma in the air and sometimes they say yes they can or sometimes they say that they can't. I used artificial scents which were the candles and real scents which is the fruit that the candle smells like with a series of three tests. My hypothesis is that many people do lose their sense of smell during the years because many types of infections can damage your nostrils.

My first procedure of the project was getting a fruit scented candle and the fruit that the candle was scented like. I first tested my mom and I told her to try to see which one she smelled first. I tested her three times with different candles and fruits so that she can tell me what she smelled first. In each test I moved one foot away from her. By the last test she said that she couldn't smell the objects anymore. My second procedure was similar to the first but with a different person which was my brother this time my brother could actually smell from three feet away. My last procedure was with my dad and I did the same tests but my dad only could smell from one foot away. I then realized that maybe when you’re younger you can smell better because your senses are more sensitive and accurate and once years start to pass your senses start to get weaker because of age.

My observations were accurate but not as perfect as if a scientist were to do this. My method was based on how many feet I was walking back and what the person I was testing smelled first. On my first test I got 1 ft/ fruit. That just means that 1 ft. stands for how many feet I backed away and there would be fruit of candle and that means what the person smelled first. So, when I tested my mother I got 1ft/ fruit on the first test, and on the other tests I got 2 ft/ candle and that was it it because she couldn't smell anything. To sum it up this was how I tested people.

To summarize, I now know from the information I tested during this project that age does affect the way you smell. I think this because the youngest person I tested was my brother and he could actually smell from three feet away. The oldest person I tested was my father with could only smell from 1 foot away. My hypothesis was correct because many people do lose their sense of smell during the years. I know this because each time I tested someone they would have a different result because of their age. So with this I conclude that people do lose their sense of smell because of their age.