PLASMA – SCI & TECH
News: Simulating the Fourth State of Matter to Harness Fusion
What's in the news?
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To produce fusion
reactions on Earth, we need to create and maintain a plasma hot enough for this
reaction to occur.
Key takeaways:
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Called the “fourth state of matter,” plasma forms
when a gas gets so hot that the electrons separate from the nuclei of an
atom.
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Plasma is made of these super-heated ions and electrons. In
fusion devices, it exists in an ultra-hot blob-like form.
Plasma:
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Plasma
is superheated matter – so hot that
the electrons are ripped away from the atoms forming an ionized gas.
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It comprises over 99% of the visible universe.
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In the night sky, plasma glows in the form of stars, nebulas, and
even the auroras that sometimes ripple above the north and south poles.
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That branch of lightning
that cracks the sky is plasma and the neon signs along city streets.
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Plasma is often called
“the fourth state of matter,” along with solid, liquid and gas.
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Just as a liquid will
boil, changing into a gas when energy is added, heating a gas will form a
plasma – a soup of positively charged particles (ions) and negatively charged
particles (electrons).