Uploaded April 2020 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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Plasma is the most extreme state of matter in the universe, sometimes called "the fourth state of matter". Find out how a plasma differs from an ordinary gas and how you're probably more familiar with plasmas than you think.

Presented by Dr Melanie Windridge and filmed in the Faraday Theatre of the Royal Institution, London.

With thanks to the Royal Institution rigb.org