Blow Smoke from Your Mouth Without Using a Cigarette

Interested in playing a fun trick on your friends or experimenting with the science behind water vapor? Try producing smoke from your mouth without a cigarette. This can be done in different ways, but the end result is that you're able to produce a small circle of water or dust vapor. Using the right technique or props, you can create a smoke like vapor or dust in the air that will fool others into thinking you are actually smoking.

Steps

Using Cold Air

  1. Find a cold air source. Using cold air will help you create water vapor from your mouth, which will appear to be smoke. If it is winter, use the cold air outside, or use the cold air coming from your freezer.
    • Using winter air is easy to do, but because many people know how to do this, it's not a very clever way to produce smoke. Try to use a freezer if possible because it will give you a more exciting effect. Keep in mind that because the source of cold air from the freezer is smaller, smoke may be harder to produce or be more difficult to see.
  2. Take a deep breath. Open your freezer and inhale deeply. Try to place your face as far in your freezer as possible so that you can inhale the most cold air. If you are outside, just inhale the cold air around you.
  3. Exhale. After you have taken a deep breath of cold air, breathe out through your mouth. You will need to do this in a cold setting, so don't remove your face from the freezer. The combination of your warm breath on a cold surface or in a cold area is what causes the visible smoke.[1]
    • For a more visible, lasting effect of smoke, try blowing on a piece of glass. After you have inhaled the cold air, exhale directly onto the glass. This glass will need to be very cold as well so that the difference of temperatures between the cold glass and your warm breath will create the effect of smoke. After blowing on the glass, the cloud of smoke you have produced will condense onto the glass, making it last longer than if breathed into the air.
    • This "smoke" is produced because as you blow warm air, the water vapor molecules produced by your breath transfer energy to the colder air. This causes the water vapor molecules to move more slowly and bind together to form the fog of tiny droplets of liquid water, which is actually what you are producing.[2]

Using Props

  1. Purchase theatrical smoke creators. There are a lot of products on the market for creating fake smoke on stage, one of which is called "Pure Smoke." This product is similar to an e-cigarette, but instead of inhaling the smoke, you can squeeze the trigger and it will generate vapor. [3]
    • This device takes AA batteries for its battery pack, which is connected to a long wire that reaches the squeezable trigger mechanism. The mechanism is made to be attached to your chest, but can be placed anywhere. A hose then runs from the mechanism to the dispenser tip, which you can place near your mouth so it would appear as if you are smoking.
    • Pure Smoke creates similar vapor to that of fog machines used on stage, but in lesser quantities.
    • When purchasing this product, you will receive 11 cartridges, which is about 850 puffs of smokes. It may be a little pricy to some, but it's effective! [4]
    • Make sure when buying Pure Smoke that you are buying the kind specifically to create fog or fake smoke on stage. There are other types of pure smoke used for Hookah and electronic cigarettes, so you'll want to avoid those.
  2. Create or buy toy cigarettes. These can be very useful if you are trying to trick someone and make them believe you are smoking a real cigarette. They can be purchased online, or you can create your own. The trick to these cigarettes is to blow out -- don't inhale.[5]
    • To make Make a Toy Cigarette, take a white piece of paper, roll it up, and tape it closed. Place cotton at one end and then pour a white powder into the other end. Now, blow from either end and it will look like you are smoking a cigarette!
    • Be aware that these cigarettes don't last very long. They allow you to make a few puffs of smoke, but because you are just making smoke with the powder inside the cigarette, you won't be able to use it for hours on end.
  3. Use Smarties. A really unique way to create smoke is by using the powder that ground up Smarties create. You can do this by grinding up the candy and rolling it into a piece of paper like a toy cigarette, or you can use the wrapper.[6]
    • When using the wrapper, smash the Smarties inside the wrapper, keeping both sides wrapped and then open up one end and gently inhale the Smartie dust and breathe out.
    • Unlike the toy cigarettes, you will inhale the smoke from the Smarties, but make sure you don't take too deep of a breath. Try to keep the air in your mouth, not letting it go to the back of your throat and into your diaphragm.

Tips

  • Do this when you are healthy and able. If you have a cold or are experiencing nasal problems, this trick is probably not the best thing to attempt.
  • Don't blow quickly when letting your breath out as it may be more difficult to see smoke.
  • Once you've mastered these steps, create an even cooler effect by positioning your head so you're looking up at the sky. Then blow out.

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Sources and Citations

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