is smoke considered a gas?
In: Physics
No, not at all, matter of fact, the distinction between “gas”/”vapor” vs “smoke” is quite specific in practice as “gas”/”vapor” represents a physical state of matter, in that, relative to temperature, all matter can be either a solid(ice), a liquid(water), a gas/vapor(steam), or Plasma, but less commonly, without actually changing composition, this is why steam cools & becomes water again, & water cools & becomes ice again, because all three are “H2O” just in different physical states.
(note: not all matters relevant temperatures are the same, H2O is liquid at room temperature, whereas iron is liquid at 1500+ degrees.)
In contrast, “smoke” is an indication that a collection of matter is no longer what it used to be, it has been broken down, disassembled, destroyed, the “smoke” from a wood fire will never be the wood it once was again, the wood has been deconstructed molecularly leaving behind only some of the carbon(ash), one could say that “smoke” is a physical state of non existence in that the elements that once combined to be “wood” are no longer in a physical state which can be referred to as “wood”, most of them have floated away into the atmosphere as particles of other, newly formed, matter.
This is why, when textiles burn, the smoke is dangerous to breath, because many of the newly formed particles of matter are toxic.
(note: Essentially, “vapor”, is simply, sub critical temperature “gas”, aside from a few select applications, for all intense & purposes, they are applicably synonymous.)
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