Question

Electrons in conductors, like copper wire, are free to roam throughout the metal in the presence of the ions that have released them. Would you consider a metal to be a plasma?

Answer 1

Answer:

• No, I would not consider a metal to be a plasma because plasma is just another state of matter, and the copper wire is in solid state.

Explanation:

Metal is not a state of matter. Metals can be solid or liquid (molten) depending on their melting point and the temperature at which they are.

Plasma is a state of matter, similar to gas, but it is reached only at very high temperatures like in the Sun. The particles in plasma state are not neutral atoms or molecules but negatively charged  ions and electrons.

The copper wire is yet a solid, thus it cannot be considered a plasma.

Metals can be in plasma state only if the temperature is too high, like the temperatures in the stars. In fact, the metals in the Sun and other hotter stars are in plasma state.