Why is it that sometimes smoke is wispy, like after you’ve blown out a candle and sometimes cloudy, like steam from an iron?

Question

Why is it that sometimes smoke is wispy, like after you’ve blown out a candle and sometimes cloudy, like steam from an iron?

In: 1

Answer 1

If whatever is burning has water in it it will give off smoke.

For example wood can take months to fully dry out, and it’s very absorbent. If you burn very dry wood it will be wispy and give off black or dark grey smoke. If it’s very wet it will be a mix of that smoke and steam.

The crackle of a fire is actually little droplets of water rapidly vaporizing, for example.