The Mystery of Plasma: Exploring the 4th Phase of Matter

[Nuklear]

THroughout school we learned there were 3 basic phases of matter. SOlid, liquid, and gas. THen there is fire which I haven't really tried to put into one. I'd assume it's gas or a 4th phase that came along in my high school years...plasma. It's very hot and the elctrons are still jumping from the atoms so it may be charged. These are the 2 qualitites of plasma.

Plasma as I reasom exists in 2 states. cooler ionic gas and super heated when it becomes another state of matter. The reason I say this is because ionized gas is sometimes called plasma. THis is the case with the high definition TVs called Plasma TVs. It confuse dme cause I was reasoning that there's no way a TV could hold hot material that's the composition ofThe SUn

 

[chroot]

Plasmas aren't necessarily hot -- passing a current through a rarefied gas will produce a plasma. This is how fluorescent and neon lights work. Both kinds of lights use plasma, but are not hot.

- Warren

 

[Tzemach]

Fire is not really matter, what you see when you look at a fire is a chemical reaction of matter converting from a solid to a gas e.g. wood to carbon dioxide and the release of chemical (electromagnetic) energy converted to heat and light.

 

[Nuklear]

2Chroot I said Plasma is just ionized gas, not always hot.


2Tzemach Are you suggestiong fire is just matter transistioning from one state to another?