What Is A Particulate: Why Are The Mountains Invisible?

Smoke particles in the wind, layering in the mouth, a dusted wood fragrance. The sun and mountains behind a thick curtain.

Why can you see smoke all around you, but not immediately next to you? It’s because of particulates. Think of it as boring rainbows. Once you think you should be close enough to touch it, you’re not.*

Although smoke is more relevant, for this essay I am going to use fog. Both have the same effect. The difference is smoke particles are much more complex than fog particles. Smoke is a mix of gasses and particles, whereas fog is just water. It is when there is too much water for air to hold. This forces excess water to condense into visible droplets.

Particulate: “of or relating to minute separate particles” - Merriam Webster Dictionary. Basically, a bunch of individual particles. The law of particulates is what we’re focusing on. Put simply, the more particles you can see, the more visible they are. There are a few different ways to explain this.

One way is through a drawing by Dakota that you can find on the “Attachments” page.

A second way is to imagine you’re looking at a cat through plastic wrap. Through one layer it’s clear but the mare plastic wrap in between you and the cat, the harder it is to see. Another version is to put a few dots of paint on each layer. Each dot represents a particle. Over a few layers, it will be fully unicolor and you will not see the cat, although you may need to move it to cover up the cat as he/she has the ability to move. It might take a while to amount enough layers. Lastly, picture a pond during spring that recently flooded new areas. When you look through a few feet of water it is extremely murky and you can’t see through it. Yet, if you were to hold the murky water in your hand you could clearly see through it.

The reason you can see fog far away is that there are more water molecules between you and the further distance. When you’re looking at a far-off mountain there are many layers of them between you and the mountain or whatever distant item. If you were to look at your cat sitting on your lap in fog or smoke there are only a few layers.

*Rainbows and particulates are completely different phenomenon, and I’m sure rainbows will be the subject of an essay soon.

Smoke particles in the wind, layering in the mouth, a dusted wood fragrance.