Vaping vs Smoking

Vapor and smoke sound very similar to one another and even to some they seem to be the same but, Wait! Although they look quite similar but they are NOT! They look alike but they actually are not the same and are very different from one another.

Before going into the details of what vapor and smoke is the main difference between them is that the Smoke involves an open flame and combustion whereas vapor doesn’t involve an open flame, which greatly reduces the temperature.

Image from iflscience.com

Smoking

Most individuals begin smoking at a really young age and is mostly due to rebellion and the thrill of taking a risk. Do people really know what is actually inside a cigarette? What chemicals and compounds are incorporated into a cigarette? A cigarette contains over 4,000 compounds and chemicals and is the cause of over 400,000 deaths per year.  Smoking causes and worsens many diseases and conditions on an individual and causes harm on others. It harms every organ of the body, and is one of the major causes of lung cancer. Many health problems such as lung disease, strokes, cataracts, Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), heart disease, Alzheimer’sdiseaseare due to smoking. Statisticshave shown that smokers lose an average of 13.2 to 14.5 years of life. Some of the most toxic chemicals that can be found are Acetaldehyde, Ethylene oxide, and Isoprene. Most smokers say smoking relieves stress but it has been proven that smoking will actually worsen an individual’s stress levels. 

Image from thetriangle.org

Smoke

Smoke is a collection of airborne solid and liquid particles and also the gases which are emitted when a product undergoes the process of combustion. During combustion some quantity of air is also mixed with the particles to form the smoke.

Smoke is an aerosol or mist of solid particles and liquid droplets close to the ideal size range for Mie Scattering of visible lighthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mie_scattering . Smoke is commonly an unwanted by product of different fires but it has its uses too like pest control, smoke signals, cooking and smoking. Beside these smoke is used in rituals as well as a flavoring agent and also as a preservative for many food items. Smoke is also a component of diesel exhaust.

Beside these uses it is dangerous too as smoke from oxygen-deprived fires contains a significant concentration of compounds that are flammable. A cloud of smoke therefore has the risks of being ignited either by some other open flame nearby, or by the temperature of its own this leads to backdraft and flashover effects. Inhalation of smoke is also very dangerous as it can cause serious injury of the respiratory tract and even the death of person who inhaled smoke may occur.

Image from herb.co

E-cigarettes (vapor)

An E-cigarette is a handheld electrical gadget that comes in many flavors. They were invented in 2003 by a Chinese pharmacist and just last E-cigarettes are being made in China. It has been said that this type of cigarette is much safer and can reduce nicotine addiction.  Chemicals that can be found in E-cigarettesare glycerol and propylene glycol, toxins and traces of heavy metals. Some of the side effects that these cigarettes can cause are throat and mouth inflammation, vomiting, nausea, and cough. Even though there is no real proof of the harms and health problem E-cigarettes can cause on an individual there are some risks and accidents due to misuse such as nicotine harm, connection with liquid nicotine, defective vaporizer causing fires and explosions due to overcharging, improper chargers, or over heating have caused severe skin burns. There has also been a risk of explosions due to altered increase of battery charge. Research has shown that smoking among teenagers has gone up by 13% since 2014. It has also been estimated that over 160,000 students that tried vapor have moved on to smoking regular cigarettes. Most high school’s students have tried or are active vapor smokers. 

Image from wikimedia.org

Vapor

A Vapor? A Vapor is generally known as a substance in the gas phase at a temperature lower than its critical temperature. A vapor can be condensed to a liquid by increasing the pressure on it without even reducing the temperature.

A vapor is different from an aerosol which is a suspension made up of tiny particles of solids, liquids, or both within a gas. A vapor may co-exist with a liquid or even a solid. When this condition is true both of the phases will be in total equilibrium with each other and the gas partial pressure will be equal to the vapor pressure of the liquid or solid at equilibrium state.

Vapor is responsible for the well-known process of cloud formation while practically vapor is employed in the distillation processes and gas chromatographies.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_chromatography The uses of vapor are great. Most common example of vapor being used is Vapor-Compression Refrigeration or also known as Vapor-compression Refrigeration Systems (VCRS). In VCRS the refrigerant is made to undergo the phase change. It is one of the many cycles of refrigeration and is widely used for air conditioning of buildings and automobiles.

Vapors and principle of vaporization is used in perfumes too where chemicals vaporize in scent accords known as notes.

Image from vice.com

Most people have the wrong idea about vapors, thinking that it will help them quit smoking and that vapors are less likely to cause health problems, but is that really true? What is true and has been proven is that vapors are causing our younger youth to pick up the habit and become addicted to nicotine. Even though there are many speculations that vapors contain less harmful chemicals than cigarettes, there is no real evidence that vapors are better than cigarettes, So we don't have a winner!