Why do airplanes leave a white trail?

After leaving behind a cold winter, we are getting ready to enter the sunny summer months. Now there will be less clouds in the air and we will begin to feel the warm rays of the sun on our bodies from a clear sky. In such periods, when you turn your head to the sky, you can see hundreds of different shades of blue at once. This magnificent image continues to decorate our background in our perspective, even if we are not aware of it. Have you ever noticed when looking at the sky when a plane passes by and leaves a white trail behind it?

Some airplanes leave a white trail behind them as they continue on their way, which disappears over time. Probably everyone has seen this image many times over. So have you thought about what this permission is? Many people, like me, have reasoned about this issue. Many people think that this white mark is the fuel residue left behind by the plane, but in fact, the situation is not at all what one might think.

Why do some planes leave a white trail?

The main reason why airplanes leave a white mark behind is heat. Although the altitude of each aircraft varies according to various factors, generally an aircraft is between 30,000 and 40,000 feet; that is, it flies at an altitude of 9000 to 12.000 meters. Although it is sunny on the ground, the air gets colder as you go higher. The air can even drop down to -50 degrees at altitudes of 10,000 meters where planes fly. The engines of airplanes compress this cold air and burn it together with the fuel. After the combustion process, the remaining air is thrown out with exhausts.

Normally, when hot air containing water vapor is thrown into an environment of -50 degrees, this water vapor instantly condenses and solidifies and turns into small pieces of ice with the effect of freezing at -50 degrees and low pressure. When we watch an airplane from below, we see that it leaves a white trail behind it. In fact, what we see is the water vapor that enters the aircraft’s engines and turns into ice crystal quickly. A Boeing 747 aircraft sprays about 2.75 kg of water per second. The reason why the water here turns white is from the gaseous state to the solid state directly; that is, it turns into ice.

Do the white marks left behind by airplanes harm the atmosphere?

The white traces left behind the engines of aircraft do not harm the atmosphere. This trace, which is essentially water vapor and only caused by the short-term change of the water’s form, disappears by itself after a short time.

Is the trace left behind by demonstration planes also produced by water vapor?

We explained the reason for the white mark left behind by airplanes. This permission, which is caused by the cold weather, has nothing to do with the colored tracks that low-flying aircraft such as a demonstration flight leave behind. Demonstrators use various steam engines to remove these traces.

Today we explained to you why the white mark on the back of the planes is caused. If you want more content like this, don’t forget to tell us in the comments section.

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