As a printmaker I've worked with hydrochloric, sulfuric, and nitric acid, and each has a different smell. (Just as citric acid and vinegar don't smell alike.)
Sulfuric acid smells like sulfur--rotten eggs.
Nitric acid smells sort of musty, a bit like fallen leaves, or some kind of mud, almost nutty.
Hydrochloric acid smells more metallic and chemical than the other two; like a much fainter version of chlorine. Its smell isn't very strong, even at high concentrations.
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yati
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Date: 2010-10-18 09:52 pm (UTC)Sulfuric acid smells like sulfur--rotten eggs.
Nitric acid smells sort of musty, a bit like fallen leaves, or some kind of mud, almost nutty.
Hydrochloric acid smells more metallic and chemical than the other two; like a much fainter version of chlorine. Its smell isn't very strong, even at high concentrations.