Editing Soot (section)

==Terminology==
===Definition===
Among scientists, exact definitions for soot vary, depending partly on their field.<ref name ="Sipkens2023"/> For example, [[Atmospheric science|atmospheric scientists]] may use a different definition compared to [[Toxicology|toxicologists]]. Soot's definition can also vary across time, and from paper to paper even among scientists in the same field. A common feature of the definitions is that soot is composed largely of carbon based particles resulting from the incomplete burning  of [[hydrocarbon]]s or organic fuel such as wood. Some note that soot may be formed by other high temperature processes, not just by burning.<ref name ="Sipkens2023"/> Soot typically takes an [[aerosol]] form when first created. It tends to eventually settle onto surfaces, though some parts of it may be decomposed while still airborne. In some definitions, soot is defined purely as [[carbonaceous]] particles, but in others it is defined to include the whole ensemble of particles resulting from partial combustion of [[organic matter]] or [[fossil fuels]] - as such it can include non carbon elements like [[Sulfur|sulphur]] and even traces of metal. In many definitions, soot is assumed to be black, but in some definitions it can be composed partly or even mainly of [[brown carbon]], and so can also be medium or even light gray in colour.<ref name ="Sipkens2023">{{cite journal | author = Sipkens ''et all'' | title =Overview of methods to characterize the mass, size, and morphology of soot | journal = [[Journal of Aerosol Science]] | volume = 173| pages =  | date = 2023| pmid = | doi =10.1016/j.jaerosci.2023.106211  | bibcode =2023JAerS.17306211S | doi-access = free}}</ref><ref name="Rituraj2017">{{cite journal | vauthors = Rituraj N , Kumar TA | title =The Toxicological Mechanisms of Environmental Soot (Black Carbon) and Carbon Black: Focus on Oxidative Stress and Inflammatory Pathways | journal = [[Frontiers in Immunology]] | volume =8 | date =2017  | page =763 | pmid = 28713383| doi =10.3389/fimmu.2017.00763  | doi-access =free | pmc =5492873 }}</ref><ref name = "Petzold2013">{{cite journal | author = Petzold ''et all''  | title = Recommendations for reporting "black carbon" measurements | journal = [[Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics]] | volume =13 | pages =  8365–8379| date =2013  | issue = 16 | pmid = | doi =10.5194/acp-13-8365-2013  | doi-access = free | bibcode = 2013ACP....13.8365P | hdl = 20.500.11850/71581 | hdl-access = free }}</ref><ref name = "long2013">{{cite journal | vauthors = Long CM, Nascarella MA, Valberg PA | title = Carbon black vs. black carbon and other airborne materials containing elemental carbon: physical and chemical distinctions| journal = [[Environmental Pollution (journal)|Environmental Pollution]] | volume =181 | pages =  271–286| date = 2013 | pmid = 23850403| doi =10.1016/j.envpol.2013.06.009 | bibcode = 2013EPoll.181..271L|quote = "the terms carbon black and soot have often been used interchangeably ...   other terms like soot, elemental carbon, and graphitic carbon continue to be used synonymously with black carbon"
| doi-access = free}}</ref>

===Related terms===
Terms like "soot", "carbon black", and "black carbon" are often used to mean the same thing, even in the scientific literature, but other scientists have stated this is incorrect and that they refer to chemically and physically distinct things.<ref name = "long2013"/><ref name="Rituraj2017"/><ref name = "Watson2001">{{cite journal | vauthors = Watson AY, Valberg PA  | title = Carbon black and soot: two different substances | journal = [[Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene]] | volume =62 | pages =  218–228| date =2001  | issue = 2 | pmid = 11331994| doi = 10.1080/15298660108984625 }}</ref>

'''[[Carbon black]]''' is a term for the industrial production of powdery carbonaceous matter which has been underway since the 19th century. Carbon black is composed almost entirely of elemental carbon. Carbon black is not found in regular soot - only in the special soot that is intentionally produced for its manufacture, mostly from specialised oil furnaces.<ref name = "long2013"/><ref name="Rituraj2017"/>

'''[[Black carbon]]''' is a term that arose in the late twentieth century among atmospheric scientists, to describe strongly light absorbing carbonaceous particles which have a significant [[climate forcing]] affect - second only to {{CO2}} itself as a contributor to short term global warming. The term is sometimes used synonymously with soot, but is now used preferentially in atmospheric science, though some prefer more precise terms like 'light-absorbing carbon'.<ref>{{cite journal | author=[[Tami Bond]] |author2=Robert W. Bergstrom| date=2020-09-13|title=Light Absorption by Carbonaceous Particles: An Investigative Review|journal=Aerosol Science and Technology |volume=40 |pages=27–67 |doi=10.1080/02786820500421521|url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/02786820500421521}}</ref> Unlike carbon black, black carbon is produced unintentionally. The chemical composition of ''black carbon'' is much more varied, and typically has a much lower proportion of elemental carbon, compared with ''carbon black''.<ref name = "long2013"/><ref name="Rituraj2017"/> In some definitions, black carbon also includes [[charcoal]], a type of matter where the chunks tend to be too large to have an aerosol form as is the case with soot.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Burke M, Marín-Spiotta E, Ponette-González AG | title =Black carbon in urban soils: land use and climate drive variation at the surface. | journal = [[Carbon Balance and Management]] | volume =9 | date =2024  | issue =1 | page =9 | pmid = 38429441| doi =10.1186/s13021-024-00255-3  | doi-access =free | pmc =10908174 | bibcode =2024CarBM..19....9B }}</ref>