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Chemistry Project

This document is a chemistry project about plasma, the fourth state of matter. It discusses the definition of plasma as a gas of ions and electrons that becomes electrically conductive when exposed to heat or electromagnetic fields. It also summarizes that plasma has unique properties compared to solid, liquid, and gas, and can exist in both partially and fully ionized states. Examples of natural and artificial plasmas are provided.

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Shivam Kumar
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2K views9 pages

Chemistry Project

This document is a chemistry project about plasma, the fourth state of matter. It discusses the definition of plasma as a gas of ions and electrons that becomes electrically conductive when exposed to heat or electromagnetic fields. It also summarizes that plasma has unique properties compared to solid, liquid, and gas, and can exist in both partially and fully ionized states. Examples of natural and artificial plasmas are provided.

Uploaded by

Shivam Kumar
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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CHEMISTRY PROJECT

DEHI TECHNOLOGICAL
UNIVERSITY
SHIVAM KUMAR
2K20/A15/11

[PLASMA: THE STATE OF


MATTER]
[Type the abstract of the document here. The abstract is typically a short summary of the contents of
the document. Type the abstract of the document here. The abstract is typically a short summary of the
contents of the document.]
➢ INTRODUCTION
➢ DEFINITION
➢ TEMPERATURE
➢ THERMAL vs NON
THERMAL PLASMAS
➢ ARTIFICIAL PLASMAS
Plasma is one of the 5 fundamental states of matter. It consists of a
gas of ions – atoms which have some of their orbital electrons
removed – and free electrons. Plasma can be artificially generated by
heating a neutral gas or subjecting it to a strong electromagnetic field
to the point where an ionized gaseous substance becomes increasingly
electrically conductive. The resulting charged ions and electrons
become influenced by long-range electromagnetic fields, making the
plasma dynamics more sensitive to these fields than a neutral gas.

Plasma and ionized gases have properties and behaviours unlike those
of the other states, and the transition between them is mostly a
matter of nomenclature and subject to interpretation. Based on the
temperature and density of the environment that contains plasma,
partially ionized or fully ionized forms of plasma may be produced.
Neon signs and lightning are examples of partially ionized plasmas.
The Earth's ionosphere is plasma and the magnetosphere contains
plasma in the Earth's surrounding space environment. The interior of
the Sun is an example of fully ionized plasma, along with the solar
corona and stars.
Plasma is a state of matter in which an ionized gaseous substance
becomes highly electrically conductive to the point that long-range
electric and magnetic fields dominate the behavior of the matter. The
plasma state can be contrasted with the other states: solid, liquid, and
gas.

Plasma is an electrically neutral medium of unbound positive and


negative particles (i.e. the overall charge of plasma is roughly zero).
Although these particles are unbound, they are not "free" in the sense
of not experiencing forces. Moving charged particles generate an
electric current within a magnetic field, and any movement of a
charged plasma particle affects and is affected by the fields created by
the other charges. In turn this governs collective behavior with many
degrees of variation. Three factors define plasma:

➢ The plasma approximation: The plasma approximation applies


when the plasma parameter, Λ, representing the number of
charge carriers within a sphere (called the Debye sphere whose
radius is the Debye screening length) surrounding a given
charged particle, is sufficiently high as to shield the electrostatic
influence of the particle outside of the sphere.
➢ Bulk interactions: The Debye screening length (defined above) is
short compared to the physical size of the plasma. This criterion
means that interactions in the bulk of the plasma are more
important than those at its edges, where boundary effects may
take place. When this criterion is satisfied, the plasma is
quasineutral.
➢ Plasma frequency: The electron plasma frequency (measuring
plasma oscillations of the electrons) is large compared to the
electron-neutral collision frequency (measuring frequency of
collisions between electrons and neutral particles). When this
condition is valid, electrostatic interactions dominate over the
processes of ordinary gas kinetics.

Lightning and neon lights are commonplace generators of


plasma
Plasma temperature is commonly measured in Kelvin or electron volts
and is, informally, a measure of the thermal kinetic energy per
particle. High temperatures are usually needed to sustain ionization,
which is a defining feature of plasma. The degree of plasma ionization
is determined by the electron temperature relative to the ionization
energy (and more weakly by the density), in a relationship called the
Saha equation. At low temperatures, ions and electrons tend to
recombine into bound states—atoms —and the plasma will eventually
become a gas.

In most cases the electrons are close enough to thermal equilibrium


that their temperature is relatively well-defined; this is true even
when there is a significant deviation from a Maxwellian energy
distribution function, for example, due to UV radiation, energetic
particles, or strong electric fields. Because of the large difference in
mass, the electrons come to thermodynamic equilibrium amongst
themselves much faster than they come into equilibrium with the ions
or neutral atoms. For this reason, the ion temperature may be very
different from (usually lower than) the electron temperature. This is
especially common in weakly ionized technological plasmas, where
the ions are often near the ambient temperature.
Based on the relative temperatures of the electrons, ions and neutrals,
plasmas are classified as "thermal" or "non-thermal" (also referred to
as "cold plasmas").

Thermal plasmas have electrons and the heavy particles at the same
temperature, i.e. they are in thermal equilibrium with each other.

Nonthermal plasmas on the other hand are non-equilibrium ionized


gases, with two temperatures: ions and neutrals stay at a low
temperature (sometimes room temperature), whereas electrons are
much hotter. (Te>>Tn). A kind of common nonthermal plasma is the
mercury-vapor gas within a fluorescent lamp, where the "electrons
gas" reaches a temperature of 10,000 kelvins while the rest of the gas
stays barely above room temperature, so the bulb can even be
touched with hands while operating.

A particular and unusual case of "inverse" nonthermal plasma is the


very high temperature plasma produced by the Z machine, where ions
are much hotter than electrons.

A plasma trail from the Space Shuttle Atlantis during re-entry into Earth's atmosphere, as seen from the
International Space Station.
Most artificial plasmas are generated by the application of electric and/or
magnetic fields through a gas. Plasma generated in a laboratory setting and for
industrial use can be generally categorized by:

• The type of power source used to generate the plasma—DC, AC (typically


with radio frequency (RF)) and microwave
• The pressure they operate at—vacuum pressure (< 10 mTorr or 1 Pa),
moderate pressure (≈1 Torr or 100 Pa), atmospheric pressure (760 Torr or
100 kPa)[citation needed]
• The degree of ionization within the plasma—fully, partially, or weakly
ionized[citation needed]
• The temperature relationships within the plasma—thermal plasma
(Te=Ti=Tgas), non-thermal or "cold" plasma (Te>>Ti=Tgas)
• The electrode configuration used to generate the plasma

• The magnetization of the particles within the plasma—magnetized (both


ion and electrons are trapped in Larmor orbits by the magnetic field),
partially magnetized (the electrons but not the ions are trapped by the
magnetic field), non-magnetized (the magnetic field is too weak to trap
the particles in orbits but may generate Lorentz forces)
Lightning as an example of plasma present at Earth's surface: Typically, lightning discharges
30 kiloamperes at up to 100 megavolts, and emits radio waves, light, X- and even gamma
rays.[34] Plasma temperatures can approach 30000 K and electron densities may exceed 1024
m−3.

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