If most of the atoms or molecules in a region are ionized, the resulting state of matter corresponds to a gas that is electrically neutral on a global scale, but composed microscopically of positively charged ions and the negatively charged electrons stripped from the atoms to form the ions. Such a state of matter is called a plasma.

Most of the matter in stars is in a plasma state. Thus, although what we refer to as "normal matter" consists of atoms and molecules, the evidence is that the most abundant form of matter in the Universe is not atoms and molecules but rather the plasma state.