Plasma

3 flashcards · Physics · by lakesare

1. What are 4 states of matter?

   solid liquid gas plasma

2. What is plasma?

   Plasma is a state of matter in which an ionized gas becomes highly electrically conductive to the point that electric and magnetic fields dominate the behaviour of the matter. Plasma is one of the four fundamental states of matter, and was first described by chemist Irving Langmuir in the 1920s.Plasma can be artificially generated by heating or subjecting a neutral gas to a strong electromagnetic field to the point where an ionized gaseous substance becomes increasingly electrically conductive.

3. Name an example of plasma on earth.

   Lightning. Lightning as an example of plasma present at Earth's surface: Typically, lightning discharges 30 kiloamperes at up to 100 megavolts, and emits radio waves, light, X- and even gamma rays. Plasma temperatures can approach 30,000K and electron densities may exceed 1024 m−3.