What does the strong odour indicate in terms of ease with which the solid leaves its surface? (Think about how the odour reaches your nose.)
It means the vapor is easily removed; i.e., the vapor pressure of the liquid is high.
A strong odor usually indicates that volatile molecules are being released from the solid surface and are reaching your nose. The ease with which the solid leaves its surface is often related to the volatility or the tendency to vaporize of the molecules present in the solid.
The strong odor of a substance can indicate how easily the solid leaves its surface and reaches your nose. This concept is known as volatility. Volatility refers to the tendency of a substance to vaporize or evaporate at a given temperature. The stronger the odor, the more volatile the substance tends to be.
To understand why strong odor indicates easy evaporation, we need to look at how odor molecules reach our nose. When a solid or liquid substance evaporates, its molecules escape from the surface and become vapor in the air. These vapor molecules then travel through the air and can enter our nasal passages, allowing us to smell them.
If a substance has a strong odor, it means that a higher concentration of its odor molecules is present in the air around us. This higher concentration suggests that the substance is more easily evaporating and releasing its molecules into the air. Therefore, a strong odor generally indicates that the solid is more volatile and has a higher tendency to leave its surface.
It's important to note that volatility can also be influenced by other factors such as temperature, pressure, and intermolecular forces. However, the presence of a strong odor can often serve as an initial indication of a substance's ease of evaporation.