As vaping continues to skyrocket in popularity around the world, the question of what vaping is has become increasingly common. To answer this question of what is vaping, we’ve created this guide.
What Is Vaping?
The definition of vaping, as defined by the dictionary, is “the action or practice of inhaling and exhaling the vapor produced by an electronic cigarette or similar device.”
By our definition, vaping is using a vape to inhale vapor. That’s as simple of a definition as we can offer. To elaborate a bit for those who require additional clarity on the matter, vaping is what e-cigarette users are doing when they inhale the vapor produced by their electronic cigarette. When you see someone using an herbal vaporizer to inhale vapor, again, you are seeing a person vaping. Regardless of the device, so long as it’s designed to produce vapor for direct inhalation, then inhaling the vapors from it is considered vaping.
The people who use vapes are known as vapers. E-cigarette users, herbal vaporizer users, and the like all have one thing in common: they’re vapers.
Vapor Is Not Smoke
Don’t confuse vapor with smoke. The two, while similar in appearance to the untrained eye, are vastly different from one another. Tobacco cigarette smoke is filled with over 4,000 chemicals and includes tar, whereas vapor contains no tar and far fewer chemicals. With vaping, the vapor that is produced is technically an aerosol, but in the world of vaping, this aerosol is known as vapor.
The vapor produced by a vaporizer is the result of a process known as vaporization, through which the blend is heated to the point of vaporization, which occurs at a lower temperature than combustion. Combustion, for reference, is what occurs when a cigarette is lit. As the cigarette burns, it’s combusting, which releases smoke.
Vaping VS Smoking
According to the independent e-cigarette evidence review that UK public health agency Public Health England conducted under government mandate, using e-cigarettes is likely 95% less harmful than using conventional cigarettes. So you can see where the two have dramatic differences and why it’s wise not to confuse the two.
As we stated earlier, the vapor produced while vaping does not contain tar, which is a significant difference between smoking cigarettes and vaping e-liquids. There are also substantially less chemicals found in e-cigarette vapor than there are in cigarette smoke.
Vapes Explained
The devices that vapers use to produce inhalable vapor are known as vapes, e-cigs, and vaporizers. Vaping hardware operates on the principle that a power source supplies power to a heating element that heats up the blend — be it dry herbs, oils, or e-liquids — to the point at which vaporization occurs and vapor is produced.
Most modern vaporizers utilize electricity as a power source, typically running off of a rechargeable battery, often of the lithium-ion variety. Outside of the realm of what’s typical in the vape industry today, there are vapes that plug directly into electrical outlets, those that are gas powered by fuels like butane, and those that require external heat sources like lighters.
E-Liquid Education
The e-liquid used by e-cigarette type vapes is a liquid solution that’s made from flavorings, a base like vegetable glycerin (VG) or propylene glycol (PG), and sometimes nicotine. In the case of nicotine, not all e-liquids contain the chemical that’s always present in the tobacco of conventional cigarettes.
E-liquids are also known as e-juices and vape juices. Like with e-cigarettes, vapes, and vaporizers, all these words used to describe e-cigarette liquid share the same definition.
Vaping Is For Adults
Vaping is intended for adult use only. In many cases, manufactures of vaping products aim their products at adult smokers, offering them what numerous studies suggest to be a less harmful alternative to smoking.
As for the effectiveness of vaping as a smoking cessation (quit smoking tool), to quote Duncan Selbie on the matter, Public Health England’s Chief Executive, when e-cigarettes are supported by a smoking cessation service, they “help most smokers to quit tobacco altogether.”
“In a nutshell, best estimates show e-cigarettes are 95% less harmful to your health than normal cigarettes, and when supported by a smoking cessation service, help most smokers to quit tobacco altogether.”
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