Electric arc

An electric arc is a sustained electrical discharge through ionized gas. It produces intense light and heat as current flows between electrodes or between an electrode and a conductor.

Electrical breakdown: The loss of an insulating material’s resistance when an electric field creates a conductive path. An arc begins when the electric field ionizes gas enough to create a conductive path.
Arc welding: A group of welding processes that join metals by melting them with an electric arc. It uses controlled arc heat to melt base metal and often a filler material.
Electrode: A conductor through which electric current enters or leaves a medium or device. Many arcs form between electrodes, whose material and geometry affect arc behavior.
Spark discharge: A brief electrical discharge across a gap, usually ending after the stored charge is released. Unlike a sustained arc, a spark is typically transient rather than continuously maintained.
Plasma: A state of matter containing free charged particles that respond collectively to electromagnetic fields. The hot, ionized gas in an arc is plasma, and its charged particles carry the current.
Electric arc furnace: An industrial furnace that melts material using heat from electric arcs between electrodes and the charge. Its arcs supply the high temperatures needed to melt steel and other materials.
Electric current: The rate at which electric charge passes a point in a circuit. A sustained arc requires current to keep the ionized gas hot and conductive.
Glow discharge: A low-current electrical discharge in gas that produces light without the extreme heating typical of an arc. It operates at lower current density and temperature than an electric arc.
Paschen's law: A law relating gas breakdown voltage to the product of gas pressure and electrode separation. It helps predict the voltage needed to initiate an arc across a gas gap.
Carbon arc lamp: An electric lamp that produces light from an arc between carbon electrodes. It was an early practical use of the arc’s intense visible light.

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