From: Arthur Carlson <carlson@ipp.mpg.de>
Newsgroups: sci.physics.plasma
Subject: Re: Plasma, fusion and antimatter
Organization: Rechenzentrum der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft in Garching
References: <91lc3f$fg4$1@saturn.cs.uml.edu> <91u0n9$bd75$1@saturn.cs.uml.edu> <92bial$2hvn$1@saturn.cs.uml.edu> <92oka6$67c8$1@saturn.cs.uml.edu> <93ib38$c95t$1@saturn.cs.uml.edu>


jgore@home.com writes:

> Please explain a "Hydrogen Plasma".

Is this a trick question? A hydrogen plasma is what you get when you
ionize hydrogen. If you prefer, you can think of it as a non-bound
collection of electrons and protons (or deuterons, or tritons). The
reason I specified hydrogen is that the resistivity of a plasma
depends on the charge state of the ions, and hydrogen atoms do not
have more than one electron to lose. A plasma of some other element
would have to be a bit hotter to have the same resistivity as a
hydrogen plasma.

> I can make plasma all day long (perhaps we talk of two different
> things). I do it with Tesla Coils (5 foot arcs) and Van De Graf (2
> foot arcs). Both are high voltage generators. Any way to use one of
> those to produce "Hydrogen Plasma"?

Just do it in a chamber filled with hydrogen, rather than air. Seems
like you should already know that a plasma is a conductor of
electricity if you've been sending currents through them in the form
of arcs.

--
To study, to finish, to publish. -- Benjamin Franklin

Dr. Arthur Carlson
Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics
Garching, Germany
carlson@ipp.mpg.de
http://www.ipp.mpg.de/~Arthur.Carlson/home.html

As usual, if I am caught or killed, the Institute
will disavow any knowledge of my actions.