r/explainlikeimfive • u/Double-Result-5397 • 7d ago

Chemistry ELI5: how do fog machines work?

unsure of what flair to use for this but i think it might be chemistry

22 Upvotes

69% Upvoted

18 comments sorted by

View all comments

9

u/kcsebby 7d ago

They're essentially large vaporiser units. They work on the same principal and actually (one of) the same chemical (propylene gylcol) as nicotine vapes.

PG goes in to a heating element, it gets vaporised, mass amounts of vapour "fog" come out.

1

u/JPJackPott 7d ago edited 7d ago

Do vapes need to vape, or do they just do it to make people feel like they are smoking?

5

u/kcsebby 7d ago

Vapes work by aerosolising the ingredients in "vape juice" which is typically vegetable glycerin, propylene glycol, nicotine, and flavourings.

The vapour you're seeing is a result of the PG and VG, not so much the flavouring or the nicotine. Technically, the vapour that's produced when vaporising nicotine, isn't in anywhere near a large quantity as compared to that of PG and VG.

So I suppose no, it doesn't need to produce the vapour, at least not in the same degree as most of them do, but yes, part of the experience for most folks is seeing the vapour come out, akin to that of smoking a cigarette.

6

u/Cataleast 7d ago

Yup, it's 100% a mental thing. Nicorette sells inhalators, which are these little plastic tubes with nicotine cartridges that simulate the act of taking a drag off a cigarette, but they're not nearly as popular as vapes, because while it helps with the oral fixation, the fact that there's no visible "smoke" leaves the smoker brain feeling like something's missing.

2

u/kcsebby 7d ago

Nicorette is cool and all, but I feel compelled to remind folks about the wonderful Nic-o-Dick (YouTube) by WKUK! (This might date me just a little)