Learn How to Identify Plasma With These Examples

Matter That Is Plasma

Closeup of a hand touching a plasma lamp.
Jim Foley / Getty Images
by Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D.
Updated February 13, 2018

One form of matter is plasma. Plasma consists of free electrons and ions that aren't associated with atomic nuclei. You encounter it every day but may not recognize it. Here are 10 examples of forms of plasma:

  1. lightning
  2. aurorae
  3. the excited low-pressure gas inside neon signs and fluorescent lights
  4. solar wind
  5. welding arcs
  6. the Earth's ionosphere
  7. stars (including the Sun)
  8. the tail of a comet
  9. interstellar gas clouds
  1. a fireball of a nuclear explosion

Plasma and Matter

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Helmenstine, Anne Marie, Ph.D. "Learn How to Identify Plasma With These Examples." ThoughtCo, Feb. 13, 2018, thoughtco.com/examples-of-plasma-608335. Helmenstine, Anne Marie, Ph.D. (2018, February 13). Learn How to Identify Plasma With These Examples. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/examples-of-plasma-608335 Helmenstine, Anne Marie, Ph.D. "Learn How to Identify Plasma With These Examples." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/examples-of-plasma-608335 (accessed April 22, 2018).