What is Plasma?

We know about the three states of matter- solid, liquid, and gas. However, there is actually a fourth state of matter that makes up 99% of the visible universe: Plasma. The sun is a massive ball of plasma, nebulae are plasma, auroras are plasma, and lightning is plasma as well…

What happens when you heat up an ice cube? The heat ‘loosens’ up the water molecules, which allows them to move more freely- liquid water. Now, apply heat by boiling the liquid water, and you get water vapour, which makes the atoms less connected than before. Apply even more energy (heat), and collisions will strip away electrons from their atoms (ionization). This is what creates plasma.

Plasma is a kind of ‘electrified gas’, which is made of positively charged ions and negatively charged free electrons. These charged particles interact through long-range electromagnetic forces, which allow them to conduct electricity.

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Sources:

• https://www.plasmi.eu/en/electric-plasma-understanding-the-energy-behind-ionized-matter/

  https://www.energy.gov/science/doe-explainsplasma

• https://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/39xhcl/why_is_plasma_considered_a_different_phase_of/

• https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20060026167/downloads/20060026167.pdf

• https://www.energy.gov/science/doe-explainsplasma

• https://www.energy.gov/science/doe-explainsplasma

• https://www.energy.gov/science/doe-explainsplasma