What is Mie Scattering?
Aerosols are very efficient at scattering sunlight. Some aerosols, especially black carbon particles created by fires, efficiently absorb sunlight. You can easily observe Mie scattering. Shine a bright flashlight or, even better, a red laser beam across a dark room. The uniform glow you see that outlines the beam of light is caused by Rayleigh scattering (light scattered by molecules of air). Bright speckles in the beam are caused by AEROSOLS (usually particles of dust) in the air. This is Mie scattering. This demonstration can be made much more dramatic by introducing chalk dust or smoke into the light beam. Caution: If you use a laser for this demonstration be sure the beam is well away from eye level. The beam should not be pointed at people or at shiny or reflective surfaces.
