Applied Science Conferences 2019

What is Plasma, what are its uses, and where does it come from?

What is plasma? Plasma is considered the 4th state of matter. Plasma is a cloud of protons, neutrons and electrons where all the electrons have come loose from their respective molecules and atoms. And it could reach up to a whopping 10,000 kelvins or 17000 degrees fahrenheit. Akshat Mahajan from BSc Physics UCLA says, “A plasma is any ionised (charged) gas. It doesn't have to be fully charged (i.e. completely stripped of all its atoms or completely ionised) - even partial ionisation is sufficient to call something a plasma.” What he is basically saying is the plasma can occur wherever a charge is missing. And plasmas can be quite beautiful. An aurora borealis mainly is solar wind flowing past the earth, and a solar wind is mainly made out of plasma, which is held by the earth's magnetic field.

Plasma is used in many applications. Plasma is used in television, neon signs and fluorescent lights. Stars, lightning, and some flames consist of plasma. ThoughtCo says, “More exotic sources of plasma include particles in nuclear fusion reactors and weapons, but everyday sources include the Sun, lightning, fire, and neon signs. “ Other examples of plasma include static electricity, plasma balls, and the ionosphere.

Most people know plasma from a popular film called star wars. More specifically the lightsabers they use to fight with. These blades, are made out of plasma powered by the fictional kyber crystal. Unfortunately, it is not very easy to create something with that power, knowing that it will take 20 megawatts or 20 million watts just to melt through through steel. And that can power about 14000 households before the battery goes out.

Overall plasma is a very extraordinary thing that most people don't know about. Some things people don't know about plasma it is a state of matter. Which is mainly because when taught in school they only learn the main three. Pluto.space.swri.edu says, “A plasma is a hot ionized gas consisting of approximately equal numbers of positively charged ions and negatively charged electrons. The characteristics of plasmas are significantly different from those of ordinary neutral gases that is why it is the 4th state of matter”.Therefore plasma is the 4th state of matter.

(Source: Neil Lapsia)