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High Energy, Nuclear, Particle Physics
How Conductive is Ionized Air? Investigating the Physics of Plasma Cutters
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[QUOTE="Charles Link, post: 5511925, member: 583509"] You can run relatively high currents at low voltages through ionized gases. This is what your neon lamps are and also fluorescent tubes. In the case of the fluorescent tube, you also have a fluorescent coating to convert the UV (much of the arc emissions are UV) that is emitted from the plasma arc to visible light. In order to get the arc started, it requires high voltages, but once the arc is started, you can get high currents (1 amp or more) at low voltages (typically 20 volts or less). The resistance drops significantly in a plasma as the current increases. In an arc lamp circuit, it often requires a ballast resistor to stabilize the current or the current can increase to very large amounts because the resistance drops as the current increases. Additional item is air in its neutral state has very high electrical resistivity but if it is highly ionized it actually becomes quite conductive. [/QUOTE]
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How Conductive is Ionized Air? Investigating the Physics of Plasma Cutters
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