Welding
Senior Airman James Turner, 51st Maintenance Group aircraft metal technology journeyman, uses a plasma cutter to cut a piece of excess metal Feb. 12, 2012. The Plasma Cutter works by sending pressurized gas through a small channel which contains negatively charged electrodes. Once power is applied and the tip of the nozzle is applied to metal the connection creates a circuit. As the inert gas passes through the channel the spark heats the gas until it reaches the fourth state of matter in which the reaction creates a stream of directed plasma, approximately 30,000 degrees. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Adam Grant)