des-esseintes Posted May 21, 2004 Share Posted May 21, 2004 I'm not perfectly sure if this is the right forum, but I put it here because there is no "general physics" forum. Oh well... The state of a mass can be altered by changing either heat or pressure. Heat any solid and it becomes liquid, then gas, then plasma. Increased pressure, on the other hand, makes a mass "harder" (for instance liquid oxygen in tanks) 1) In space there is no pressure. But not all matter in space is plasma. Or is it? Why/why not? 2) What kind of pressure would it take to create a pure hydrogen cube of 1 ccm at 0 degrees C. Put the answer in elephants please I am very very uneducated, enlighten me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swansont Posted May 22, 2004 Share Posted May 22, 2004 I'm not perfectly sure if this is the right forum' date=' but I put it here because there is no "general physics" forum. Oh well... The state of a mass can be altered by changing either heat or pressure. Heat any solid and it becomes liquid, then gas, then plasma. Increased pressure, on the other hand, makes a mass "harder" (for instance liquid oxygen in tanks) 1) In space there is no pressure. But not all matter in space is plasma. Or is it? Why/why not? 2) What kind of pressure would it take to create a pure hydrogen cube of 1 ccm at 0 degrees C. Put the answer in elephants please I am very very uneducated, enlighten me! [/quote'] To create a plasma you need to ionize the atoms, and this requires energy. Atoms in outer space aren't typically subjected to any energy source that would tend to ionize them. Atoms that are heated will reach a point that they will be continually ionized - the thermal energy exceeds the ionization energy - so that you have a plasma. Solid hydrogen has been formed, but I'm only aware of results at liquid helium temperatures - about 4K. But you're free to use PV=nRT and try to extrapolate those results (I recommend Google to search for 'solid hydrogen' info) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BPHgravity Posted May 22, 2004 Share Posted May 22, 2004 2) Answer: I'm going to take a wild stab at this and say 42 elephants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crash Posted May 22, 2004 Share Posted May 22, 2004 African elephants? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
des-esseintes Posted May 22, 2004 Author Share Posted May 22, 2004 42 elephants, let's see... that is about 160 tons. Then there must be a 10-cm-thick layer of hard hydrogen at the bottom of the Atlantic To create a plasma you need to ionize the atoms, and this requires energy. Atoms in outer space aren't typically subjected to any energy source that would tend to ionize them. Atoms that are heated will reach a point that they will be continually ionized - the thermal energy exceeds the ionization energy - so that you have a plasma. I am stupid, but do you need energy in the same way to create gas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tesseract Posted May 22, 2004 Share Posted May 22, 2004 African elephants? I dont understand why des wanted it in elephants???as for comparison? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swansont Posted May 22, 2004 Share Posted May 22, 2004 do you need energy in the same way to create gas? Depends on the gas. Some atoms or molecules are gases at room temperature and pressure. Some need to be heated. Depends on the boiling point. (Technically, everything has a vapor pressure, so you will find some gas of even a metal at room temperature - but it's a very, very small amount compared to the other constituents.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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