Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff from how Stuff Works dot com
Speaker 1: where smart Happens. I am Marshall Brain with today's question,
Speaker 1: how do fog machines work? There are three common ways
Speaker 1: to produce the fog that you often see in stage
Speaker 1: productions and at dance clubs. You can use the fog
Speaker 1: machine that vaporizes fog juice, or you can use dry ice,
Speaker 1: or you can invite lots of cigarette smokers. Fog machines
Speaker 1: and fog juice are the most common. The basic mechanism
Speaker 1: is simple. The fog juice is heated to create smoke.
Speaker 1: When you overheat oil on the stove and create a
Speaker 1: lot of smoke, you're doing the same thing cooking oil
Speaker 1: has a tendency to get gummy and smell bad. However,
Speaker 1: fog machines use glycerin or glycol mixed with water as
Speaker 1: their juice. According to the Seattle Times, the fog is
Speaker 1: created using propylene glycol and triethyline glycol mixed with water.
Speaker 1: One thing that's not clear is whether this fog has
Speaker 1: any side effects on people's lungs. It seems like it's
Speaker 1: a problem for asthmatics, but nothing has been proven conclusively
Speaker 1: for the general population. If you would rather be safe
Speaker 1: than sorry, you can use dry ice. When you place
Speaker 1: dry ice and hot water, it creates a dense fog
Speaker 1: that clings to the floor. This fog contains carbon dioxide
Speaker 1: and water vapor. Do you have any ideas or suggestions
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