The fourth state of matter Plasma The fourth state of matter

What is plasma? Fourth state of matter Most common state of matter in the universe Much like gas except has free electrons Composed of positive charged particles called cations Examples of plasmas: lighting, stars, neon signs, and auroras

History of plasma Discovered by sir William Crookes in 1879 Defined it as radiant matter Discovered it through a Crookes tube Wasn’t given the name plasma till 1929 by Irving Langmuir Greek for “anything formed”

Where is plasma found? 99% of the matter in the universe is plasma On earth it is the rarest state of matter Man made plasma is found in fluorescent light bulbs and neon lights In space plasma is mostly seen in stars

Different types of plasma Thermal plasma Found in stars and lighting At extremely high temperatures Determined by atom and amount of energy going through it Non-thermal plasma Much lower temperature then thermal plasma Used in medical research Auroras and fluorescent bulbs are cold plasma

Plasma in stars Plasma is created by the fusion reaction in stars A fusion reaction is when hydrogen is transformed into helium The energy that comes out of this reaction causes huge burst of energy The energy causes a electrical charge which runs through the gases and creates plasma

Uses of plasma Plasma is used from cutting metal to light bulbs Plasma is the key to fusion energy Some types of plasma are being tested for medical research

Plasma cutter First used to the industrial scale in WW2 by the U.S. Plasma made it possible to build planes and artillery faster Much more reliable then cold saws

Fluorescent & neon lights Fluorescent lights differ from normal incandescent bulbs Fluorescent are filled with a type of gas The electricity goes through the twisty tube thing and creates energy to ionizes the electrons in the gas This causes the light to shine

Auroras Caused by solar flares hitting the atmosphere The flares hit particles with a electric charge Different elements give different color Oxygen: green & red Nitrogen: pink

Lighting High thermal plasma Caused when water molecules are evaporated and bump into each other This causes electrons to be bumped off Positive water molecules ascend to the top this creates an electrical charge its gets pushed down to the earth

Medical uses of plasma Is used in decontamination Has been widely used in cancer treatment Does not kill skin cells Kills micro-organisms

Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuUJwFLUpS0

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