Video Illustrates How You Can Hold Plasma in Your Hand
It's no secret that we love The Action Lab's videos. As fans of all things STEM-related, we admire his no-nonsense approach to science.
Now, the YouTuber is back with another video where he holds a noble gas plasma in his hands. "In this video, I show you how to generate a plasma, and talk about why the noble gases can be turned into plasma so easily, yet are so difficult to ionize," says his video's description.
The YouTuber does this by using small glass tubes filled with different gases. By increasing the voltage around his fingers he is able to generate a beautiful plasma color inside the glass.
Each noble gas has a different color emission, going from a pink hue to a blue one to a yellow one. The gases he uses are helium, neon, argon, krypton, and xenon.
These same gases are used in neon signs because they are so easy to turn into plasma. However, they are very hard to ionize which brings us to the following question: why indeed are all these gases so easy to turn into a plasma when they are so difficult to ionize? Watch the video to find out the answer.