Smoke

Smoke is a cloud of very small, solid particles that is made when something is burned with a flame, such as wood or paper. Smoke can be bad because if it goes into the lungs of a person, it can hurt their lungs or even kill them (for example, in a house fire). Most people think that they are always able to see smoke, but people cannot see some types of smoke: they are invisible.

People sometimes deliberately make smoke, for example as insecticide or smoke signals, or smoke screen to hide themselves in war, or as food flavoring and preservative. Some smoke is used to transmit drugs, as when tobacco or marijuana is smoked. Incense is smoke that is made for religious ceremonies or to smell good.

Smoke removal systems redistribute gas flows and reduce the temperature and concentration of smoke during a fire. This helps in evacuating people, limiting the spread of fire; and extinguishing the fire.

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  Oil fire

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  Candle smoke

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  Campfire in Africa

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  Bonfire smoking

Smoke from tobacco

When people smoke tobacco in cigars or cigarettes, they are burning the tobacco and inhaling the smoke. Tobacco smoke can hurt the mouth, throat, and lungs. It can cause mouth, throat, or lung cancer. It can also cause emphysema and bronchitis (trouble breathing). They continue doing it because the smoke also has a nicotine.

Smoke from factories

Factories and power plants produce large amounts of smoke into the atmosphere which pollutes the air. Eventually the toxic chemicals in smoke fall to the ground, and then they pollute the soil and the water. When the air, soil and water are polluted with toxic chemicals, the chemicals also get absorbed by plants and animals (including humans).

Smoke Media

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  Chemical composition distribution of volatile organic compounds released in smoke from a variety of solid fuels

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  Emission of soot in the fumes of a large diesel truck, without particle filters

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  Nerval took this shot on top of topanga, that's how the valley seemed under the fires. The city was under smoke though (that's where my house is).

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  Smoke rising up from the smoldering remains of a recently extingished mountain fire in South Africa

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  Processing fish while being exposed to smoke

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  World Trade Center on fire after terrorists flew planes into the buildings on September 11, 2001

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  Reduced visibility due to wildfire smoke in Sheremetyevo Airport, Moscow, 7 August 2010

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  Red smoke carried by a parachutist of the UK Lightning Bolts Army Parachute Display Team

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  Volatility distribution of volatile organic compound emissions in wood smoke

Related pages

• Dry ice
• Pollution