Phases of Matter VII - Plasmas
Written by Translator on June 27, 2008 – 5:25 pm -Crossposted at http://Dailykos.com
A plasma is a noncondensed, fluid state of matter, much like a gas. The difference between gases and plasmas is that gases are electrically neutral, while plasmas have had some, most, or all (depending on conditions) of its atoms separated from one or more electrons.
Thus, a plasma is mixture of ions (atoms missing one or more electrons) and free electrons. This makes them have some extremely useful properties, and we exploit those properties on a daily basis.
Tags: Fluorescent Lamp, ICAP, Ion Engine, Lightening, Phases of matter, Plasma, Teaching
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