Physics is a very interesting science. It sometimes contains such concepts that we have heard about, but we have no real idea. And today, in the age of high technology development, the concept of plasma, or, in other words, ionized gas, slips more and more often. Many, just hearing this word, are frightened, and do not even try to find out what it means. But everything is very simple, and in this article we will tell you what an ionized gas is and what properties it has.
Before we give you detailed and comprehensive information, let's take a brief digression into history.
History
Plasma, or the fourth state of matter, was discovered in 1879 by William Crookes during experiments involving a voltaic arc. Subsequently, a whole science was created, called plasma physics. Where did the whole science come from and why is it needed? The thing is that the study of plasma has found great application in various fields of science and technology. But we will talk about this a little later. And now a little about the essence of the concept of "ionized gas".
What is plasma?
This word came to Russian from Greek. It means "formed", "made". And these are not empty words. howit is known that ordinary gas takes the form of the vessel where it is located (just like water). That is why it is chaotic and does not have a clear form. However, plasma is completely different. No wonder it is called the fourth state of matter. It radically differs from all other states in its special properties. The fact is that all the atoms that make up the plasma have a positive or negative charge.
Before we talk about how plasma is obtained and where it is used, let's analyze aspects of the theory of plasma physics, because it will be very useful to us for further narration.
Plasma theory
In the school chemistry course, a lot of time is devoted to solutions and the particles that are in them. These charged particles have unique properties and determine many of the physical and chemical characteristics of various "solute-solvent" systems. However, ions (charged particles in solution) exist not only in the aquatic environment.
As it turned out, the gas can ionize and form atoms with a positive or negative charge. This can happen in the process of knocking out an electron from an atom by external forces. The ejected electron can also crash into some other atom and "knock out" another electron. But the reverse situation can also occur: an electron can fly into an ion and again form a neutral atom. And all these processes constantly occur in plasma. It is quite unstable in the absence of outside forces to support it.
Plasma is obtained mainly in a very simple way, accessible to each of us at home: by passing gas through a high voltage electric arc. The higher the arc temperature, the more heated plasma we get at the output. The higher the voltage on its contacts, the more ionized gas is obtained after.
Plasma can also be divided into several types. You will learn about what plasma (ionized gas) is in the next section.
Plasma types
By origin, ionized gas can be divided into artificial and natural. With the first view, everything is clear, a person easily creates plasma and uses it for his own purposes (for example, neon lamps, lasers, controlled thermonuclear fusion). And what kind of plasma occurs in nature? Its most famous manifestation is lightning.
The ionized gas can also include such a phenomenon as the northern lights, which not all the inhabitants of the Earth have the good fortune to observe. Also, the solar wind, which exists in outer space, is the fourth state of matter. If we consider plasma in a broader sense, it turns out that the entire outer space belongs to it.
Plasma can also be divided by its temperature. As you know, the hotter the gas, the more active the movement of molecules in it and the higher its energy. Since plasma is also a gas, these statements are also true for it. Thus, starting from what is the temperature of the ionized gas, it is divided into hot (temperaturemillion K and above) and cold (respectively, the temperature is less than a million K).
There is one more indicator - the degree of ionization. It shows what percentage of the atoms in the plasma have decayed into ions. According to this indicator, a highly ionized gas and a low ionized gas are distinguished. It is also included in one of the generally accepted classifications.
Conclusion
Plasma is not such a difficult thing to understand. Difficulties begin with a deeper study of it. But that's how you can look at anything. We specifically did not touch on mathematical calculations in order to explain the essence of this concept in as much detail as possible. Physics is a very interesting science, and it is necessary to study it, if only because it surrounds us in everything and everywhere. And our article is intended to prove this, because plasma is everywhere around us, just sometimes we do not understand the deep essence of the phenomena associated with it.
