THE UNITED STATES of…

A solid keeps its own shape, it does not fill or take the shape of its container.

A liquid will not fill its container, but it will take the shape of the part of the container it is filling.

A gas fills all of its container, and it takes the shape of the container that it fills.

O.K. So What’s PLASMA?

Plasma is a gas that has had enough energy added to it to free electrons from the atoms or molecules that make up the gas.

Plasma is the fourth state of matter. Many places teach that there are three states of matter; solid, liquid and gas, but there are actually four. The fourth is plasma. To put it very simply, a plasma is an ionized gas, a gas into which sufficient energy is provided to free electrons from atoms or molecules and to allow both species, ions and electrons, to coexist. The funny thing about that is, that as far as we know, plasmas are the most common state of matter in the universe. They are even common here on earth. A plasma is a gas that has been energized to the point that some of the electrons break free from, but travel with, their nucleus. Gases can become plasmas in several ways, but all include pumping the gas with energy. A spark in a gas will create a plasma. A hot gas passing through a big spark will turn the gas stream into a plasma that can be useful. Plasma torches like that are used in industry to cut metals. The biggest chunk of plasma you will see is that dear friend to all of us, the sun. The sun's enormous heat rips electrons off the hydrogen and helium molecules that make up the sun. Essentially, the sun, like most stars, is a great big ball of plasma.

For now…think of PLASMA as a super energized gas.

Fire is not hot enough to create a plasma.     Most flames are yellow. The main reason is that flames contain little bits of burned material--bits which later form its smoke--and they get hot enough to glowglow. Hot solid materials always glow--for instance, the filament in a light bulb. However ,glowing in yellow light does not require a very hot temperature.     To create a plasma takes more energy, and requires a higher temperature than the flame provides. The collisions between atoms need to be energetic enough to kick an electron completely out of the atom

As you change from a solid to a liquid and on to a gas the molecules become more and active.

The particles collide harder and more often and fly farther apart after colliding.

Wood is made up of really long chains of polymers. These chains are all held together by Hydrogen atoms, thus creating a Hydrogen bond which is extremely strong. Imagine your strongest friend holding onto you and another friend. There is no way you can get away from your strong friend. That's how wood is. Now, when most matter is heated up, the molecules will begin to become more mobile. In wood, however, the chains and Hydrogen bonds prevent the molecules from becoming more mobile. This is due to the fact that the chains can't be taken apart easily. Therefore, the molecules never actually become as mobile as they need to be.Now, if we supply enough heat to the wood, the chains will begin to break. However, by this point, the broken chains will be way to mobile for the wood to liquefy. At this point, the wood simply evaporates into a gas. This process is called subliming.

I Don’t Get It!

A solid keeps its own shape, it does not fill or take the shape of its container.

A liquid will not fill its container, but it will take the shape of the part of the container it is filling.

A gas fills all of its container, and it takes the shape of the container that it fills.

PLASMA is a Super Energized Gas