[Home]History of Plasma physics

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Revision 7 . . (edit) December 20, 2001 2:22 pm by AstroNomer
Revision 6 . . December 19, 2001 11:34 pm by April [ Expanded definition]
Revision 5 . . December 13, 2001 1:12 am by Cjc38
Revision 4 . . December 13, 2001 1:11 am by Cjc38
Revision 3 . . December 13, 2001 12:40 am by Cjc38
Revision 2 . . December 13, 2001 12:35 am by Cjc38
Revision 1 . . December 13, 2001 12:33 am by Cjc38 [Let's get this party started]
  

Difference (from prior major revision) (minor diff, author diff)

Added: 1a2,6

Briefly, it is the study of the statistical properties of a field of charged particles, called a plasma. Sometimes called "the fourth state of matter" (besides solid, liquid, and gas), plasma in this context refers to a gas that has been subjected to enough energy to dissociate atoms from their electrons (ionization), producing a cloud of ions and electrons. Because these particles are ionized (charged), the gas behaves in a different fashion than neutral gas in, for instance, the presence of electromagnetic fields.

Plasmas are fluid, and are therefore well described by fluid mechanics.


Added: 26a32
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