Magic smoke

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Smoke released from an electronic component

A computer chip rendered useless after overheating.

Magic smoke (also called factory smoke, blue smoke, or magic blue smoke) refers to smoke produced by malfunctioning electronic circuits. The origins of the magic smoke has become a running in-joke that started among electrical engineers and technicians before it was more recently adopted by computer programmers. The actual origin is the silicon material that are used in most common semiconductor devices such as transistors and integrated circuits. When it burns, it produces smoke that is blue in color.

1 Joke
2 Usage
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Joke

The magic smoke is observed to come out of electronic components when overheated, often through exposure to an extreme electrical current usually caused by the application of excess voltage through some failure of the circuit. According to the joke, at their factories, manufacturers put a little bit of magic smoke into every electronic component and it is this smoke which makes the device work. In support of this joke, once the magic smoke has been released, the device lacks its key component and no longer works. The smoke thus can be thought of as an essential part in the device's function. It is also noted that once let out, the magic smoke can no longer be put back in.

In some variations of the joke, it is alleged that the major microchip production companies (especially the large microprocessor manufacturers) are involved in a conspiracy to keep the true nature of their products under wraps.^[1]

[edit] Usage

This has led to use of the phrases (and variants of) "leaking smoke", "the magic smoke is escaping", or "you let the smoke out!" as a euphemism for the destruction of a processor, integrated circuit or other electronic component, by overheating.

When a device is powered on for the first time, it is often called a "smoke test".