what are the smoke trails planes leave only sometimes?
In: Engineering
Depends on the density and temperature of the air they’re flying through. That’s why they don’t show up all the time.
When fuel is burned in an engine, like those on a jet, one of the main products flowing out of the exhaust is very hot water vapor. If the temperature and humidity of the air the plane is flying though are right then that water vapor from the exhaust will cool down and form a bunch of tiny droplets which, just like a cloud, appear white in the sky. Those clouds, called contrails, eventually get blown apart by the wind which is why they usually get larger and more diffuse the further they are from the plane that made them.
Latest Answers