Plasma is the so-called fourth state of matter is one of the four states of matter that we observe in our day-to-day lives and is part of the 18 and growing states of matter that we have identified a state of matter must have a set of characteristics that is unique to it so what is so different about plasma and where do we see it let's discuss it.
So what is a Plasma? Plasma is similar to gas in that plasmas don't have a defined shape or volume however unlike a gas plasmas can conduct electricity produce electric and magnetic fields and react strongly to electromagnetic forces plasmas behave in this fashion because they are a gas of disassociated electrons and nuclei that is plasma is an ionized gas. In order to create a plasma, you need to impart enough energy to a gas as the atoms become more energetic the electrons eventually leave the atom they were orbiting and become free to move around this creates a sea of free electrons in positive nuclei.
It is these charges that can conduct electricity and react to electromagnetic forces now plasma is not some exotic state of matter somewhere between 97 to 99 observable matter is in the plasma state this is because stars are in fact made of plasma as are large interstellar bodies like nebula and this makes sense because stars are very hot and thus the gas they are made of will form into plasma. we have known about plasma as a state of matter for an incredibly long period of time even if for most of that we didn't understand it, sailors, on ships for centuries, would see a faint blue glow on their masks the end of a storm the pointy head of their mask would interact with the charged particles in the air and this would actually form a ball of plasma these same charged particles in the air during storms are what lead to the formation of lightning which is actually a trail of plasma that is discharged to the ground.
In 1879 a scientist called William crook invented what is now known as the crooks tube which is a glass vacuum tube that still had some gas inside and two electrodes which he could use to ionize the gas when the pressure was low enough he observed a faint glow he described this as radiant matter it wouldn't be referred to a plasma until much later this technology is actually the basis for a later technology the cathode ray tube or known to many of us as the CRT the technology for screens before the good crystal displays then in 1897 JJ Thompson who won the discovering the electron correctly identified what radiant matter was a gas of charged ions despite knowing the true nature of plasma wasn't until 1928 that radiant mata would finally get its name from the scientist Irving langmir he gave it this name because it reminded him of cells in blood plasma.
Plasmas are not just some state of matter that can be observed we use them all the time from old tv screens to neon signs to arc welders and many more plasmas are also incredibly useful in the manufacturing of silicon technologies or in other words without plasmas computers wouldn't work this isn't because you have a plasma in your computer or phone but more that without it making the processes would be much harder it turns out that plasma is incredibly good at cleaning surfaces particulates can get on any surface and when you are trying to make a structure that is less than 10 nanometers in size any particulate is trouble so these industries often clean using concentrated plasmas which breaks down and removes unwanted atoms it can be also used to etch or thin down materials through slowly removing atoms from the surface which can be incredibly useful for making something very thin and thus vital for making compact electronics.
Beyond this plasma is crucial to future technologies in fusion reactors which makes sense as fusion occurs in stars and stars of plasma so one would imagine that making plasma is crucial well for building a fusion reactor we need to be able to confine an extremely hot material it necessitates that we need the matter to be in the state that will react with magnetic fields well luckily extremely hot material is most likely in the plasma state and thus it reacts to magnetic fields, in fact, one of the major issues facing fusion technology is confining the plasma for long enough to form a proper fusion reaction that and understanding the fluid mechanics of the existence it can be quite difficult t minus five four three two one another future use of plasmas is for space travel currently chemical reactions that we use for rockets are very inefficient and thus require large payloads of fuel.
This is a huge issue for trying to escape the earth's orbit one option is to switch to lower payload thrusters and that is where plasma comes in this type of thruster works by first producing plasma and then accelerating it out of the back of the jet this is not particularly useful for getting out of orbit yet as current designs for plasma thrusters work significantly better when in vacuum however they are particularly amazing for interplanetary travel this is because plasma thrusters have a significantly higher impulse than traditional thrusters and require a very small amount of fuel typically a noble gas like Xeon there are some drawbacks still like the amount of energy required for operation and plasma erosion that can slowly destroy the engine this being said plasma thrusters are likely the future of space travel plasmas may be the fourth state of matter but this is no way the least.
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