Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

I am having problems with the Scintillating Scents: The Science of Making Perfume project. I'm trying to help a student with this for a science fair project. Our problem is that in the end we have no smell but the smell of alcohol. I'm not sure what we're doing wrong, but alcohol is the only smell. We used roses and Crisco shortening. Can anyone help with what we maybe did wrong?

Moderator note: https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... ng-perfume

Hi there,

Without specific instructions on the experiment that your class performed, I can make a few guesses. You may want to really make sure that 2 tbsp of alcohol are used and that the vegetable shortening does not change form into gas. This may evaporate some of the fumes that you want for the perfume and there isn't really an easy way to check if it gets too hot, so you could experiment with different durations of heating for different sandwiches. Hope this helps.