eli5: Why does smoke “stick” to water?

Question

eli5: Why does smoke “stick” to water?

In: 1

Answer 1

Water is a polar molecule. That means it has a slightly positive and slightly negatively charged end. (Oils, for example, are non polar, so they don’t mix with water)

Smoke is made of a variety of different chemicals, but most of them tend to be polar, so they stick to each other very easily through that small electrical charge.