Why does Gasoline smell pleasant?

Actually I could see why you might find it pleasant smelling. Gasoline contains many aromatic benzene rings within it's structure. The aromatic compounds such as benzene and toluene have a sweet smell. Now while gasoline might not be "sweet" smelling in literal definition, people do like the aroma of it.

I learned about this in organic chemistry last year.

Take Care :-)

The smell actually spreads more than the actual gas fumes do. the scent is added so you will automatically know when gas is near by.

For example if you pour a cup of gas, you will smell it all around you but you can light a torch if you want and it would not set the gas on fire unless you bring it within like 2-3 inches of the gas.

It is for safety, for example suppose you are smoking and you suddenly get a strong gas smell, you can easily put the cigarette out before you come too close to the gas. If the smell was not added, you would not notice the gas until you were like 4-5 inches away from it.

And as Seb said, gas will cause brain damage. It just depends on the distance at which you smell it. the harmful fumes travel a much shorter distance than the artificial that is added to it.

Gasoline/fuel/petrol/Diesel and even the gas pumped into your home for your gas ovens, fires etc do not have a scent, a scent is added to it for safety reasons, so you can detects a gas leak/spillage easily.

Not too many people enjoy the smell of gasoline. When I was young, I used to love the smell of gasoline, but now that I'm a couple of years older, it becomes more of an unpleasant smell...especially when you have to pay for it...

It smells pleasant when you sniff it because it's killing your brain cells. Stupid people think like stupid people.

Its smells horrible to me. I can't believe people can actually like the smell. Whenever I am near petrol I have to cover my nose.