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Asked by Harrysimp710 to Anna, George, Jodi, Rob, Stefan on 10 Nov 2014.
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Rob Appleyard answered on 10 Nov 2014:
Plasmas are another form of matter, like solids, liquids and gasses. They are formed when you put a lot of energy (maybe using a really big laser) into a gas, and the molecules fall apart. If you have a neon light (like the ones used for advertising signs) then the glowing stuff inside the light is a plasma.
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Anna Scaife answered on 10 Nov 2014:
Plasma is basically another name for an ionised gas, i.e. a gas where the particles have an electrical charge. You can find it all over the place – candle flames are an example of a plasma if they burn hot enough (a few hundred degrees C), the Earth’s ionosphere (the top bit of the atmosphere) is another example.
In the Earth’s ionosphere there are about one hundred thousand million charged particles per metre cube, compared to about a hundred times more in a candle flame – although of course a candle flame is smaller and hotter! If you go outside our atmosphere into space, you’re still in a plasma but in space there are only about ten thousand charged particles per metre cube and the temperature is pretty low, about -100 degrees C.
The centre of the Sun is another plasma – although only just, because it’s so dense – and of course it’s very hot: about ten million degrees C! Although… there’s a place on Earth where you can find a plasma hotter than the centre of the Sun. It’s not very far away – just outside Oxford. There they confine plasma using magnetic fields to cause nuclear fusion.
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Stefan Lines answered on 10 Nov 2014:
Anna has given a fantastic answer so I don’t feel the need to reply, but I couldn’t help but mention that you can find some Plasma pretty easily down Currys or PC World (definitely on our planet!).
Joking aside, this Plasma is extremely useful, because it emits photons (light particles, if I may) which excites material in the TV that changes colour and produces the picture.
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