An electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) or vape is a device that simulates tobacco smoking. It consists of an atomizer, a power source such as a battery, and a container such as a cartridge or tank. Instead of smoke, the user inhales vapor. As such, using an e-cigarette is often called "vaping". The atomizer is a heating element that vaporizes a liquid solution called e-liquid, which quickly cools into an aerosol of tiny droplets, vapor and air. The vapor mainly comprises propylene glycol and/or glycerin, usually with nicotine and flavoring. Its exact composition varies, and depends on several things including user behavior.
A first-generation e-cigarette that resembles a tobacco cigarette, with a battery portion that can be disconnected and recharged using the USB power charger
An exploded view of an e-cigarette with transparent clearomizer and changeable dual-coil head. This model allows for a wide range of settings.
Reasons for initiating e-cigarette use in the European Union, in a 2018 Eurobarometer poll
The Ruyan e-cigar was first launched in China in 2004.
Tobacco smoking is the practice of burning tobacco and ingesting the resulting smoke. The smoke may be inhaled, as is done with cigarettes, or simply released from the mouth, as is generally done with pipes and cigars. The practice is believed to have begun as early as 5000–3000 BC in Mesoamerica and South America. Tobacco was introduced to Eurasia in the late 17th century by European colonists, where it followed common trade routes. The practice encountered criticism from its first import into the Western world onwards but embedded itself in certain strata of a number of societies before becoming widespread upon the introduction of automated cigarette-rolling apparatus.
A woman smoking a cigarette, the most common method of tobacco smoking
Aztec women are handed flowers and smoking tubes before eating at a banquet, Florentine Codex, 16th century.
Tobacco field in Intercourse, Pennsylvania
Basma leaves curing in the sun at Pomak village of Xanthi, Thrace, Greece