Instead the 2013 recipe calls for potassium chlorate, the common sugar lactose and a type of pine resin sometimes known as Greek pitch. The first two ingredients are a common pair, Steinberg says ...

And if a new pope has been elected, potassium chlorate, lactose and chloroform resin would be added to produce white smoke. Has a pope ever been elected on the first ballot? It is possible for a ...

Potassium chlorate (KClO₃)—even more reactive than perchlorate—ensures a hot, vigorous burn. Lactose acts as the fuel, burning quickly and cleanly into water vapor and carbon dioxide.

anthracene, and sulfur. White smoke is created by burning ballots with a mixture of potassium chlorate, lactose, and rosin.

Meanwhile, white smoke announces that a new Pope has been elected. This is often accompanied by the exclamation "habemus papam!" The eagerly awaited white smoke results from burning a mixture of ...

The white smoke is a slightly different chemical composition. "You have calcium chlorate, which again is going to bring that oxygen, you use lactose, which is just sugar," Dr. Castellini said.

For white smoke, the Vatican says it used to use wet straw, but to make it a more pure color, instead of a confusing grey, they use potassium chlorate, lactose and a tree or bush resin called ...

For white smoke, a cartridge of potassium chlorate, lactose and chloroform resin is burned with the ballots. Bells also are rung to signal the election of a pope, for further clarity. The new pope ...

The white smoke is a slightly different chemical composition. "You have calcium chlorate, which again is going to bring that oxygen, you use lactose, which is just sugar," Dr. Castellini said.