![]() ![]() The plasma that is dominated by the earth's magnetic field constitutes the magnetosphere. Above the atmosphere, however, matter exists in the plasma state. The air that constitutes our atmosphere is in the gaseous state. We are familiar with solid rocks and liquid oceans. The earth is composed of all four states of matter. The fact that a plasma can generate electric and magnetic fields and, in turn, be affected by them gives rise to a wide variety of new phenomena for which there is no parallel in the other three states of matter. Moreover, the interaction between the ions and the electrons form an electric current this, in turn, is a source of a magnetic field. ![]() When the positively charged ions and electrons of a plasma are knocked off the atoms, they can create long-range electric fields. So besides being very hot, a plasma is distinguished from a gas by the fact that a plasma's movements are affected by electric and magnetic fields. It is at this point that the plasma state is reached. The negatively charged electrons are knocked completely off the atoms. What happens if the temperature of a gas is raised above temperatures that exist on the sun? As a gas' temperature is raised to over 10,000°, its molecules collide so violently that they are broken apart into individual atoms. It turns to water, the liquid state, when heated and if heated further, the water turns to steam, the gaseous state. In science classes, only three states of matter are commonly described: 1) solids, which have definite size and shape 2) liquids, which have a definite volume and no definite shape and 3) gases which have no definite size or shape. ![]()
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