Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

OK! I have 3 questions about Plasma! I couldn't find anything about it on the internet or in my school book!

Question 1: Characteristics of size and shapes?

Question 2: What are the Motion of particles for plasma?

Hi Munchie,

Two questions:

A. The dictionary on my system lists four definitions for plasma, see below. Which one do you want?

1 the colorless fluid part of blood, lymph, or milk, in which corpuscles or fat globules are suspended.
2 an ionized gas consisting of positive ions and free electrons in proportions resulting in more or less no overall electric charge, typically at low pressures (as in the upper atmosphere and in fluorescent lamps) or at very high temperatures (as in stars and nuclear fusion reactors).
3 a dark green, translucent variety of quartz used in mosaic and for other decorative purposes.
4 another term for cytoplasm or protoplasm.

B. You said that you had three questions, but I see only two. What's up?

Hey Munchie,

the most common uses of the term plasma is biological and physical.

in the biological sense, plasma can refer to the yellowish liquid component of blood in which blood cells are suspended.

in the physical sense, plasma is ionized gas in which a certain amount of electrons are free rather than being bound to an atom. It is very conducive, so therefore responds strongly to electromagnetic fieldds. As a result, plasma has properties unlike solids, liquids or gases. However, it is argued whether or not it is an actual distinct state of matter, or just a subset of the gaseous state.

A well known example is lightning, and a practical application is the plasma TV. the plasma TV basically contains gas between two glass panels. these gases are electrically excited to emit light.

-Dan