I was shopping around for my hubby (he loves tools) and I saw something called plasma cutting and I wondered what it was. Plasma sounds like something related to blood to me, so I was a little curious.

There are all sizes of plasma cutters from the huge ones to small hand held ones you would use in a home shop and they are used to cut metal. The cutters send a pressurized gas (nitrogen, argon or oxygen) through a small channel. In the channel is a negatively charged electrode that creates a circuit when you touch the tip of the plasma cutter to metal. The gas passes through the channel and heats the generated spark - this is what is called plasma. It is approximately 30,000 degrees F and moves at 20,000 feet per second. It literally melts the metal you are cutting, giving you a precise cut.

Curious minds want to know!