It aint NOx. That never get to anything like a high
enough density in the atmosphere for it to be that.
A layer of air 4 miles thick with 1 PPM NO2 has light going through as
much NO2 as it would going through a 1/4-inch layer of pure NO2, which is
quite brown. I have seen an ampoule of the stuff before. A 1
inch thick layer of pure NO2 (some of it becomes N204 when that
concentrated, a molecule of which is basicaly just two NO2 molecules stuck
together more than being a different compound) is a rather dark brown,
although still lighter than a Budweiser bottle. The stuff looks like
bromine vapor. You can make visible quantities of nitrogen dioxide in a
small glass jar if you put in that jar a spark gap with a capacitor of
about a nanofarad across it and power the spark gap with a neon sign
transformer. You may need to adjust the spark gap or try a larger
capacitor (with power off!) if instead of a loud bright series of sparks
you get an arc. Beware that a neon sign transformer with a capacitor
across its secondary can resonate and the voltage may get high enough to
cause destructive sparking in the transformer unless the spark gap is
short enough to limit the voltage to a value safe for the transformer's
insulation.
Unhealthful air quality based on average concentration of the worst hour
is .3 PPM of NOx, and that is mostly NO2, and that seems like enough to be
visibly brownish in a layer just a few miles thick.
Yep, they're considerably bigger and fall rather than rise.
And they dont have the same hot air driving them either.
Have a look at a really badly setup diesel engine thats pouring
out lots of the black stuff some time and see where it goes.
And how about ones in not-so-bad tune that make finer soot? I see
enough blackish smoke from diesel trucks rising and flowing with air
currents. Sometimes it looks bluish when illuminated by sunlight, so some
of that soot has to be of particles of size around a wavelength or
somewhat smaller, and particles that size don't fall out of the air faster
than the gray stuff from wood fires.
- Don Klipstein (
[email protected])