3. States Of Matter
• Major states of Matter are
Solid, Liquid and Gas. Solid is
the most abundant state of
matter around us (on Earth).
• The 4th one is Plasma. It is
formed by providing heat to the
gas.
4. Plasma as The 4th State of Matter
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5. What is Plasma?
• Plasma is considered 4th State
of Matter despite solids, liquids
and gases. It is one of the
fundamental states of matter.
Technically, it is an ionized gas
consisting of positive ions and
free electrons ,typically at low
pressures (as in the upper
atmosphere and in fluorescent
lamps) or at very high
temperatures (as in stars and
nuclear fusion reactors).
• Plasma should be called 1st
state of matter because it is
what all the states arise from.
6. ABOUT PLASMA
• Plasma is created by adding energy to a gas so that some of its electrons leave its atoms. This is called ionization. It
results in negatively charged electrons, and positively charged ions. Unlike the other states of matter, the charged
particles in a plasma will react strongly to electric and magnetic fields (i.e. electromagnetic fields). If a plasma loses
heat, the ions will re-form into a gas, emitting the energy which had caused them to ionize.
• Over 99% of the matter in the visible universe is believed to be plasma. When the atoms in a gas are broken up, the
pieces are called electrons and ions. Because they have an electric charge, they are pulled together or pushed apart
by electric fields and magnetic fields. This makes a plasma act differently than a gas. For example, magnetic fields can
be used to hold a plasma, but not to hold a gas. Plasma is a better conductor of electricity than copper.
• Plasma is usually very hot, because it takes very high temperatures to break the bonds between electrons and the
nuclei of the atoms. Sometimes plasmas can have very high pressure, like in stars. Stars (including the Sun) are
mostly made of plasma. Plasmas can also have very low pressure, like in outer space.
• On Earth, lightning makes plasma. Artificial (man-made) uses of plasma include fluorescent lightbulbs, neon signs, and
plasma displays used for television or computer screens, as well as plasma lamps and globes which are a popular
children's toy and room decoration. Scientists are experimenting with plasma to make a new kind of nuclear power,
called fusion, which would be much better and safer than ordinary nuclear power, and would produce much less
radioactive waste
7. Complete vs. incomplete ionization
• A plasma is sometimes referred to as being "hot" if it is nearly fully
ionized, or "cold" if only a small fraction (for example 1%) of the gas
molecules are ionized, but other definitions of the terms "hot plasma"
and "cold plasma" are common. Even in a "cold" plasma, the electron
temperature is still typically several thousand degrees Celsius.
Plasmas utilized in "plasma technology" ("technological plasmas") are
usually cold plasmas in the sense that only a small fraction of the gas
molecules are ionized.
8. THERMAL VS NON THERMMAL PLASMAS
• Based on the relative temperatures of the electrons, ions and neutrals,
plasmas are classified as "thermal" or "non-thermal". Thermal plasmas
have electrons and the heavy particles at the same temperature, i.e.
they are in thermal equilibrium with each other. Nonthermal plasmas
on the other hand have the ions and neutrals at a much lower
temperature (sometimes room temperature), whereas electrons are
much "hotter"
9. Why is Plasma considered the 4th State of Matter
• The characteristics of plasmas are significantly different from those of
ordinary neutral gases so that plasmas are considered a distinct "fourth state
of matter." For example, because plasmas are made up of electrically
charged particles, they are strongly influenced by electric and magnetic fields
while neutral gases are not.
• It’s behavior doesn’t resemble with any other State of Matter. It is significantly
unique.
• It is an interesting fact that most of the material in the visible Universe (The
whole Universe, as much as 99.9% according to some estimates, is in the
Plasma State.
10. Discovery of Plasma
• The existence of PLASMA was first discovered by
Sir William Crookes in 1879 using an assembly that
is today known as a “Crookes tube”, an
experimental electrical discharge tube in which air
is ionized by the application of a high voltage
through a voltage coil.
• A Crookes tube is an early experimental electrical
discharged tube, with partial vacuum, invented by
English physicist William Crookes (on the left side)
and others around 1869-1875, in which cathode
rays, streams of electrons, were discovered.
12. Formation of Plasma
• When more heat is provided to atoms
or molecules, they may be ionized. An
electron may gain enough energy to
escape its atom. After the escape of
electron, atoms become ions. In
sufficiently heated gas, ionization
happens many times, creating clouds
of free electrons and ions.
• This ionized gas mixture consisting of
ions, electrons and neutral atoms is
called PLASMA.
13. Types of Plasma
• There are three major types of Plasma i.e.
• Natural Plasma Natural Plasma only exist at very high temperature or low
temperature vacuum. It do not react rapidly but it is extremely hot (over 20,000 oC).
There energy is so high that it vaporizes everything they touch.
• Artificial Plasma Artificial Plasma can be created by ionization of a gas , as
in neon signs. Plasma at low temperature is hard to maintain because outside a
vacuum, low temperature plasma reacts rapidly with any molecule it encounters. This
aspect makes this material, both very useful and hard to use.
• Terrestrial is a plasma layer that blankets the outer reaches of the Earth's
atmosphere
14. ARTIFICIAL PLASMAS
• Those found in plasma displays, including TV screens.
• Inside fluorescent lamps (low energy lighting), neon signs
• Rocket exhaust and ion thrusters
• The area in front of a spacecraft's heat shield during re-
entry into the atmosphere
• Plasma ball (sometimes called a plasma sphere or plasma
globe)
• Arcs produced by Tesla coils (resonant air core
transformer or disruptor coil that produces arcs similar to
lightning, but with alternating current rather than static
electricity)
• Fusion energy researches
• Plasmas used in semiconductor device
fabrication including reactive-ion etching,
sputtering, surface cleaning and plasma-
enhanced chemical vapor deposition
• Laser-produced plasmas (LPP), found when
high power lasers interact with materials.
• Inductively coupled plasmas (ICP), formed
typically in argon gas for optical emission
spectroscopy or mass spectrometry
• Magnetically induced plasmas (MIP), typically
produced using microwaves as a resonant
coupling method
• The electric arc in an arc lamp, an arc welder
or plasma torch
15. NATURAL PLASMAS
• Stars
• (plasmas heated by nuclear fusion)
• The solar wind
• The interplanetary medium
• (space between planets)
• The interstellar medium
• (space between star systems)
• The Intergalactic medium
• (space between galaxies)
• The Io-Jupiter flux tube
• Accretion discs
• Interstellar nebulae
16. Terrestrial plasmas
• Lightning
• The magnetosphere contains plasma
in the Earth's surrounding space
environment.
• The ionosphere
• The plasmasphere
• The polar aurorae
• The polar wind, a plasma fountain
• Upper-atmospheric lightning (e.g.
Blue jets, Blue starters, Gigantic jets,
ELVES)
• Sprites
• St. Elmo's fire
17. Properties of Plasma
• Although Plasma includes ions, electrons and neutral atoms, it is
macroscopically neutral as a whole because electrons and ions are equally
balanced.
• A Plasma must have sufficient number of charged particles as a whole, it
exhibits a collective response to electrical and magnetic field. The motion of
particles in the Plasma generate fields and electric currents from within
Plasma Density.
• Plasmas are the most common form of matter, comprising more than 99% of
the visible universe.
• This complex behavior makes Plasma Unique.
26. Lightning is an example of plasma present at Earth's
surface. Typically, lightning discharges 30,000 amperes
at up to 100 million volts, and emits light, radio waves, X-
rays and even gamma rays.[32] Plasma temperatures in
lightning can approach 28,000 K (28,000 °C; 50,000 °F)
and electron densities may exceed 1024 m−3.
28. Other example of plasma is
The actual flames that you
see moving and glowing
when something is burning
are simply gas that is still
reacting and giving off light.
29. It’s quite surprising, plasma
wasn’t identified until the
Twenties (2000- 2014). That’s
because electrons weren’t
discovered until the late 19th
century, and without an
understanding of subatomic
charged particles, you can’t
understand how plasma works
30. The tip of a welder’s torch glows
like the Sun and fires out a
concentrated blast of heat in
excess of 3,000 degrees Celsius.
Its UV rays are so harmful that
welders wear dark face plates to
protect them from ‘arc eye’, a
painful burning of the cornea. The
source of the intense glow is an
ionized arc of gas called Plasma
31. Water can’t be converted into
Plasma. It can only exist as
Solid, Liquid or Gas. For water
to become a plasma, the
individual hydrogen and oxygen
atoms would need to be broken
apart and ionized separately.
And if the molecular structure is
broken apart, then water is no
longer water
32. Research
• Plasma theory
• Plasmas in nature
• Industrial plasmas
• Astrophysical plasma
• Plasma diagnostics
Plasmas are the object of study of the academic field of plasma science
or plasma physics, including sub-disciplines such as space plasma
physics. It currently involves the following fields of active research and
features across many journals, whose interest includes
• Plasma application
• Dielectric barrier discharge
• Enhanced oil recovery
• Fusion power
Notas del editor
This is the question that your experiment answers
Establish hypothesis before you begin the experiment. This should be your best educated guess based on your research.