Plasma in Your Living Room

You have encountered plasma more often than you think:

• Neon signs work by passing electric current through low-pressure gas, creating a glowing plasma in the tube
• Fluorescent lights contain mercury vapor plasma that emits ultraviolet light, which strikes the phosphor coating to produce visible light
• Plasma TVs (now mostly replaced by LED) used tiny cells of ionized gas behind each pixel
• Candle flames contain a small amount of plasma in their hottest regions
• Arc welders generate plasma to melt metal at the joint

Plasma technology is everywhere — we just rarely call it by its proper name.