Waft in the Wind


Love reading? 

Of course, who doesn't! The question is, "Hard copy or the techie book- Kindle."
I know, I know... In this busy world, we all choose to carry Kindle which is sophisticated and light-weight.
And yes, we can download unlimited books in a single gadget and read them later.

But now, I will take you bookworms to the good old days where we were fond of reading REAL books and after years, we love the smell of them when taken from the shelves. So what is it actually about? What does it smell like? Vanilla? Chocolate? Strawberry? Almond? Could you specify? I think it is a combination.

Basically, the books are made of paper and ink in it. Paper is made up of wood. The wood includes organic compounds such as lignin and cellulose. When these compounds react to heat, air, light and moisture, they slowly breakdown and release volatile organic compounds or VOCs.

Volatile Organic Compounds are organic compound that can easily become vapours or gases. They contain elements such as carbon, hydrogen, sulphur, nitrogen, bromine, fluorine, oxygen, and chlorine.

These compounds mix with air and form the smell of old books. There are many classifications of VOCs.  A volatile organic compound called benzaldehyde gives almond their smell. Another VOC vanillin gives vanilla like smell. Ethyl benzene gives a sweet smell. All these compounds combine together to make old books smell good.



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