Plasma: The Fourth State of Matter
Posted by Joshua BartosiewiczAs the 8th graders continue to venture into the realm of Chemistry, they’ve been learning about the states of matter and phase changes. Most people are aware of the three states of matter known as “solids, liquids and gasses”, however, there’s a fourth state of matter known as “plasma.” Not to confuse this with the plasma in our blood (they’re different), but the fourth state of matter called plasma is essentially supercharged gas particles. This state of matter makes up almost 99% of all matter in our universe! Here, on Earth, plasma can be seen as static shock, lightening, the aurora borealis or even in light bulbs and TVs!
In science we were able to utilize a Tesla Coil which was designed by Nikola Tesla in the 1800s to observe plasma in real life. When the machine was turned on, it starts producing electrical currents and builds up charges. The charges are discharged into the air around it, creating mini bolts of plasma. Students were able to manipulate where the discharges were released by moving their fingers to and from the coil. The discharges were hardly noticeable if they were even felt at all due to it being such a low intensity. The Tesla Coil allowed students to witness plasma in real time.
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