• Question: What are teh particles like in a plasma? Asked by Anonymous Audience

    Asked by v4a833t to Saiful, Petra, Jenny, Iain, Bethan on 17 Jan 2017.
    • Photo: Bethan Charles

      Bethan Charles answered on 17 Jan 2017:

      Everything we see around us is made up of matter, this matter can exist in different states. Solid, liquid and gas are the 3 most commonly known ‘states of matter’, however there is a 4th called plasma.

      To create plasma you usually start with a gas and add lots of energy to it. Gas is made up of atoms and atoms are made up of a nucleus (positive) and electrons (negative). Usually the positive nucleus and negative electrons cancel each other out meaning the atom has no charge.

      However, adding lots of energy to the gas causes the gas particles to lose their electrons. Creating a sea of positively charged gas particles and negatively charged electrons.

      This sea of positive and negative particles is a plasma.

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