National Security Education Exhibit Home Star formation in the Eagle Nebula Space Telescope Science Institute , NASA Plasma is by far the most common form of matter. The different states of matter generally found on earth are solid, liquid, and gas. We have learned to work, play, and rest using these familiar states of matter. Sir William Crookes, an English physicist, identified a fourth state of matter, now called plasma, in 1879. Ordinary solids, liquids, and gases are both electrically neutral and too cool or dense to be in a plasma state.
Energy is needed to strip electrons from atoms to make plasma.
With insufficient sustaining power, plasmas recombine into neutral gas. Plasma can be accelerated and steered by electric and magnetic fields which allows it to be controlled and applied. Plasma research is yielding a greater understanding of the universe.