• Question: what is plasma and what is it used for/

    Asked by anon-200922 to Rosemary, Oliver, Leigh, Jordan, Hannah, David on 4 Mar 2019.
    • Photo: Leigh Kesler

      Leigh Kesler answered on 4 Mar 2019:

      There are two types of plasma; one is a part of blood and the other is a state of matter. I’m not a biologist so I’m going to tell you about the second one!

      In school, most people learn about the three major states of matter: solids, liquids, and gas. As matter gets more and more energy, it moves from being solid to liquid to gas. When a gas is given even more energy, the atoms that make up the gas break up so that the nuclei (the middle that is made of protons and neutrons) and electrons are completely separate from each other.

      While the first three states make up most of the matter that you deal with on a regular basis, the next state (plasma!) makes up most of the visible matter in the universe. The Sun and all the stars are made of plasmas, as are the sources of light inside of some lightbulbs and lightening strikes!

      Plasmas can be used for a lot of things – they can be used in lighting, to make computer chips, and to make energy.

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