Definitions Properties and parameters Mathematical descriptions Plasma science and technology Complex plasma phenomena Gallery See also Note References External links Plasma (physics) Article Talk Read View source View history Tools Appearance hide Text Small Standard Large Width Standard Wide Color (beta) Automatic Light Dark Page semi-protected From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Top: Lightning and neon lights are commonplace generators of plasma. Center left: A plasma globe, illustrating some of the more complex plasma phenomena, including filamentation. Center right: A plasma trail from the Space Shuttle Atlantis during re-entry into Earth's atmosphere, as seen from the International Space Station. Bottom left: A fire in a fire pit; fires may produce plasma if hot enough. Bottom right: The Sun's corona as seen from a solar eclipse. Plasma (from Ancient Greek πλάσμα (plásma) [1][a] 'that which has been formed or moulded or the result of forming or moulding'[2]) is a state of matter that results from a gaseous state having undergone some degree of ionization. It thus consists of a significant portion of charged particles (ions and/or electrons). While rarely encountered on Earth, it is estimated that 99.9% of all ordinary matter in the universe is plasma.[3] Stars are almost pure balls of plasma, and plasma dominates the rarefied intracluster medium and intergalactic medium.[4][5][6][7] Plasma can be artificially generated, for example, by heating a neutral gas or subjecting it to a strong electromagnetic field.[8]
