Is This Why Farts In The Bath Always Smell Way Worse?

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The thing I love about Reddit is that you can just ask whatever is on your mind. 

This guy was having a shower, let off a stinker, and thought to himself ‘why does it smell worse when you fart in water?

And of course the people answered. So there are two main reasons why under-water trumps are so much worse.

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The first reason, given by a user caller derika22, is:

When you fart in the air due to “diffusion” the fart and the “normal” air mix up, so that you smell less fart gas.

In water (usually in the bath tub, where you are in and your head close to the water surface) the fart gas moves up the water bubble without mixing with the air. When it comes up to the surface, directly close to your nose, the smell is more “pure” and therefore worse.

So the water sort of concentrates the far bubbles…nice.

homosapiensftw explains how the presence of water vapour massively impacts how we smell.

They said:

The way your nose senses odors is significantly heightened by the presence of water vapor. When you’re in the water, there’s a lot of vapor in the air above the water, so your sense of smell is more sensitive, and therefore your farts smell stronger.
(Note: this is the same reason your pee smells stronger when you’re in the shower than the urinal–there’s much more water vapor in the air.)

Dogs have wet noses because the moisture allows the faintest of smells to attach to the receptors on the mucus membrane. So I guess it makes sense that the same would apply to us.

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In a beautiful simile to top off our new fart knowledge, another user said that “Like good bourbon, you have to add a small touch of water to bring out the excellence.”

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They can be beautiful things, it’s just how you see them.