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Contents 1 Plasma 1.1 Plasma 1.2 Examples of Plasma 1.3 Uses of Plasma

[edit] Plasma

[edit] Plasma

Plasma is known as the fourth state of matter and is in fact the most common state of matter. It is in the form of an excited gas. Plasma is created when it gets so hot that the electrons are stripped away from the atoms.

[edit] Examples of Plasma

The best example of a plasma is the flame of a candle. The candle wax burns and gives off a hot gas that emits energy, in the form of light. It is this excited and hot flame that is known as plasma. [1] Argon gas in a plasma state interacting with the phosphor coating within a glass tube gives us fluorescent lighting.

The light and heat emitted from the sun is a result of hydrogen plasma.

[edit] Uses of Plasma

The sun (and other stars) are plasmas. Gas laser systems, for example Helium/Neon types, use the two inert gases in a hot and excited state to emit large bursts of light energy.

Some specialised [2] apparatus use a plasma of inert gas to prevent the metals from oxidising (by excluding oxygen from the surrounding air) while being welded. Plasma Televsion also uses plasma.