At that moment-characterized by extreme temperature and energy-all matter would be found as a dense soup of fundamental particles: quarks and gluons, moving at speeds close to that of light. This is the state of matter in which (it is assumed) all the matter of the universe was just one millionth of a second after the Big Bang and just before beginning to cool down and change to other less energetic states. This means that, unlike gases, plasmas are conductors of electricity and can be confined inside magnetic fields. Although as a whole the total electric charge is zero, in its interior the particles have a charge.

Formed by cations (molecules or atoms with a positive charge) and free electrons (with a negative charge), between which significant electrostatic forces are present. Plasma is an ionized gas at a high temperature. A plasma globe operating in a darkened room. In fact, it is estimated that 99% of the matter in the observable universe is plasma. It is also the state that characterizes the aurora borealis and lightning.

The plasma state is the one in which the gases contained inside neon lights, fluorescent tubes and, of course, plasma screen TVs exist.

And water is the substance that best represents them, because it is the only one that exists naturally in the three states.īut the development of new technologies able to produce more and more extreme and energetic conditions in the laboratories has meant that in recent years five other states have been discovered (plus a final candidate that has just appeared in 2018). For many centuries, it was considered that there were only three states of matter: solid, liquid and gas (the three that are present and stable in our world).

What are the three states of matter