This Month in Physics History: March 20, 1800: Volta describes the electric battery March 20, 1800: Volta describes the Electric Battery Alessandro Volta In the late 18th century, scientists were fascinated with electricity. Ben Franklin had conducted his famous kite experiment, drawing electricity from lightning in 1752. Leyden jars, invented in 1746, could store charge and produce a spark of electricity. Doctors were treating patients with electric shocks for all sorts of ills. But further research on electromagnetism and any practical use of electricity would require a source of continuous current, which was not available until 1800, when Alessandro Volta invented the first electric pile, the forerunner of the modern battery. Alessandro Volta was born in Como, Italy in 1745, to a wealthy noble family. He attended the Como Jesuit school and a local seminary. His teachers tried to persuade him to enter the priesthood, while his family wanted him to study law. But Volta, even at age 14, knew his real interest was physics.

Like many scientists of the time, he was especially fascinated by electricity. Volta dropped his formal studies, and did not attend university. Nonetheless, by age 18 he was corresponding directly with accomplished scientists, and conducting experiments in the laboratory of a family friend. In 1769 he wrote a treatise “On the forces of attraction of electric fire,” in which he put forward a theory of electric phenomena. In 1774 Volta accepted a post as an instructor at the Como grammar school, and continued his experiments on electricity. In 1775 he devised a “perpetual electrophorus” that could transfer charge to other objects, and in the next few years he noticed the bubbling of methane in swamps and was able to isolate the gas. Volta was made a professor of physics at the University of Pavia in 1778. Volta’s early work had already made him a well-known scientist, but his greatest contribution to science was the voltaic pile, which he invented as part of a scientific dispute with Luigi Galvani.

In 1780, Galvani, an Italian physician and anatomist, was experimenting with dissected frogs’ legs and their attached spinal cords, mounted on iron or brass hooks. In most of his experiments, the frog leg could be made to twitch when touched with a probe made of another metal. The frog legs would also jump when hanging on a metal fence in a lightning storm. These observations convinced Galvani that he had found a new form of electricity, which was being generated by the frogs’ muscles. He called the phenomenon “animal electricity.” Volta, though initially galvanized by this work, argued that the frogs’ muscles were simply reacting to the electricity, not producing it. He set out to prove Galvani wrong, and sparked a controversy that divided the Italian scientific community. Volta realized that the crucial feature of Galvani’s experiments was the two dissimilar metals–the iron or brass hook and the probe of some other metal. The metals were generating the current, not the frog parts. Instruments available at the time could not detect weak currents, so Volta, always a dedicated experimentalist, often tested various combinations of metals by placing them on his tongue.

The saliva in his mouth, like the frogs’ tissue, conducted electricity, resulting in an unpleasant bitter sensation. To show conclusively that the generation of an electric current did not require any animal parts, Volta put together a rather messy stack of alternating zinc and silver discs, separated by brine-soaked cloth. He built the pile, which consisted of as many as thirty disks, in imitation of the electric organ of the torpedo fish. A Voltaic Pile When a wire was connected to both ends of the pile, a steady current flowed. Volta found that different types of metal could change the amount of current produced, and that he could increase the current by adding disks to the stack. In a letter dated March 20, 1800, addressed to Joseph Banks, president of the Royal Society of London, Volta first reported the electric pile. Volta soon traveled to Paris and demonstrated his invention, which he initially described as an “artificial electric organ,” emphasizing that animal tissue was not needed to produce the current. The battery was a huge success. Not only did it swing the scientific community to his side in the debate with Galvani, it was immediately recognized as a useful device.

In 1800 William Nicholson and Anthony Carlisle used the current generated by a battery to decompose water into hydrogen and oxygen. Sir Humphry Davy also studied the same chemical effect. In the 1830s Michael Faraday used a battery in his groundbreaking studies of electromagnetism. Other inventors made improvements on Volta’s original design, and soon it was powering telegraphs and doorbells. Napoleon was impressed by the voltaic pile as well, and recommended many honors for Volta, including making him a count in 1810. The invention of the battery brought him great renown, but Volta seems to have preferred a quiet life, and soon gave up most of his research and teaching. He spent his last years living in a country house, where he died on March 5, 1827, at age 82. Since his death, Volta’s portrait has appeared on currency and stamps, and his name is immortalized in the unit of electric potential, the volt.

©1995 - 2017, AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY APS encourages the redistribution of the materials included in this newspaper provided that attribution to the source is noted and the materials are not truncated or changed. Editor: Alan Chodos Inventor Alessandro Volta Biography Inventor: Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta Criteria: First to invent. Birth: February 18, 1745.in Como, Lombardy, Italy Death: March 5, 1827.near Como, Lombardy, Italy Nationality: Italian Invention: electric battery in 1800 Function: noun / electric batï¿½tery / voltic pile Definition: In science and technology, a battery is a device that stores energy and makes it available in an electrical form. A battery converts chemical energy into electric energy. It is a connected bunch (or ï¿½batteryï¿½) of electro-chemical devices. Milestones: 1775 Volta devised the electrophorus, a device that produced a static electric charge.

1777 he studied the chemistry of gases, discovered methane 1779 he became professor of physics at the University of Pavia 1794 Volta married Teresa Peregrini, daughter of Count Peregrini; the couple had three sons. 1800 he developed the so-called voltaic pile, a forerunner of the electric battery 1810 In honor of his work in the field of electricity, Napoleon made him a count 1815 the Emperor of Austria named him a professor of philosophy at Padova. 1816 Volta's works were published in five volumes in Florence 1881 an important electrical unit, the volt, was named in his honor. Volta, Alessandro Volta, Count Alessamdro Volta, battery, electric battery, voltic pile, wet cell battery, volt, inventor, biography, profile, history, inventor of, history of, who invented, invention of, fascinating facts. STORY: Alessandro Volta, Italian physicist, known for his pioneering work in electricity. Volta was born in Como and educated in the public schools there.

In 1774 he became professor of physics at the Royal School in Como, and in the following year he devised the electrophorus, an instrument that produced charges of static electricity. In 1776-77 he applied himself to chemistry, studying atmospheric electricity and devising experiments such as the ignition of gases by an electric spark in a closed vessel. In 1779 he became professor of physics at the University of Pavia, a chair he occupied for 25 years. By 1800 he had developed the so-called voltaic pile, a forerunner of the electric battery, which produced a steady stream of electricity. In honor of his work in the field of electricity, Napoleon made him a count in 1810. A museum in Como, the Voltian Temple, has been erected in his honor and exhibits some of the original instruments he used to conduct experiments. Near lake Como stands the Villa Olmo, which houses the Voltian Foundation, an organization which promotes scientific activities. Volta carried out his juvenile studies and made his first inventions in Como.

TO LEARN MORE Alessandro Volta | Biography, Inventions and Facts Alessandro Volta Alessandro Volta invented “Battery” Alessandro Volta (formally Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta) was an Italian scientist best known for inventing the battery. He was born to a noble family in Como, Italy in February 1745. He did not learn to speak until he was four, which led his family to fear that he had learning disabilities. These were entirely unfounded, and Volta gained mastery not only over his native language, that is, Italian but also French, German, Latin and English. Despite being part of the nobility, his family was not wealthy and when Volta was 7 years old, his father passed away, heavily indebted. Volta was taught at home by his uncle until he was 12, after which he enrolled at a Jesuit boarding school where he studied for free. However, he left after a few years because they expected him to join the priesthood, whereas Volta wanted to embark on a career in science. After this he studied at the Benzi Seminary until the age of 18.

Volta published his first scientific paper in 1769, titled “On the Forces of Attraction of Electric Fire” which he sent to a prominent physicist named Giambatista Beccaria in order to discuss his ideas with him. A couple of years later, he published another paper describing an electrical generator that he had built. These publications gained Volta a favorable reputation in scientific circles and he was appointed as a teacher of natural philosophy at the Liceo of Como in 1774. One of his major breakthroughs came shortly after, which was a device known as electrophorus. Although it had been invented earlier by Johann Wilcke in 1762, Volta is thought to have worked and arrived at his conclusions independently. His design was an improvement on Wilcke’s and as its use became widespread throughout laboratories in Europe, Volta’s reputation as a distinguished scientist was further strengthened. Volta was also involved in the study of gases, particularly methane, which he studied at length after noticing the bubbling of water in a marsh. He collected some of it and found it to be highly combustible.

This led him to develop another device, known as “Volta’s Pistol” which was a rudimentary version of an internal combustion engine. In 1779, Volta accepted the position of chair of natural philosophy at the University of Pavia. Around this time, he also engaged in an intellectual disagreement with another prominent Italian scientist named Luigi Galvani. Galvani had been conducting experiments with frogs when he noticed that the leg of a dead frog twitched when hanging from a brass hook and touched with a scalpel. He concluded that an electrical charge was naturally found in animal tissues whereas Volta tried to prove that the twitching was merely a sign that an electrical current had passed between two metals. Both were partly right, but the issue was much discussed and debated in scientific circles. Volta was best known for inventing the voltaic pile in 1800. This was a series of metallic discs separated by pieces of cardboard soaked in acid or salt solution. This apparatus could be used to generate a continuous electrical current, that is, it was the world’s first battery.

It brought Volta much appreciation and aplomb, not only within the scientific community but by the likes of the Emperor Napoleon as well, who called Volta to Paris in 1801 for a demonstration. Napoleon was so pleased with Volta’s accomplishments that he bestowed many titles and honors on him, including a gold medal, a pension and the positions of cavalier, senator and count. In later life, Alessandro Volta became more involved in his political career and in 1819 he retired to his family estate. He died in 1827 at the age of 82. The term volt, used to describe the unit of electrical power, is named in his honor. The First Battery: Invention of Alessandro Volta Alessandro Volta Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta was born in Como, Lombardy, Italy on February 18, 1745. He is mainly remembered for inventing the voltaic pile, a forerunner of today's batteries. Volta attended the public school in Camo, Lombardy and had a normal childhood. Later he became a school teacher in his hometown and was able to do research in a variety of fields, including physics and chemistry.

slide 2 of 6 Volta's Research and Inventions The Electrophorus Alessandro Volta was the first to apply the term "Electrophorus" to a device invented by another physicist, Johan Wilcke of Sweden. Volta did extensive research into this device and made improvements as well as popularized it with his people. The electrophorus is a device that produced a static electric charge when the top was rotated. slide 3 of 6 Discovery of Methane Volta discovered the gas called methane in 1776 or 1777. He found it being emitted from a from a swampy marsh near his house, collected it, and tried to ignite it with an electric spark in a closed vessel. Thus he performed early research into what would become a subject of intensive research into landfill gas as an alternative fuel centuries later. slide 4 of 6 Volta, il Professore and his Early Battery Volta became a Professor of Physics at the University of Pavia in 1779 and taught there for over 25 years. It was also there that, by 1800, his research led him to construct a forerunner of the electric storage battery.

Called the "voltaic pile," it was capable of producing a steady stream of direct current electricity. slide 5 of 6 Volta observed that an electrical discharge was caused when two metals were submerged near each other into an acidic solution. This led him to create what he called the "column battery" that consisted that of alternating copper and zinc rings stacked in glass tube and all completely submerged in an acidic solution. He first called it the "artificial electrical organ," perhaps in reference to a well-known electric fish called the "topedo," which was capable of providing strong electric shocks. It later became known as the voltaic cell or voltaic pile. This discovery of the energy conversion of chemical energy into electrical energy built the foundation for today's batteries. slide 6 of 6 Who was Alessandro Volta? | Reference.com Who was Alessandro Volta? A: Quick Answer Alessandro Volta was an Italian physicist credited for the invention of the electric battery in 1800. He also made discoveries in electrostatics, meteorology and pneumatics. The word "volt," named after Volta, is a measurement of electricity. Full Answer Alessandro Volta's most notable invention was an electrical device called the voltaic pile.

It was made of alternating discs of zinc and copper, with each pair separated by a brine-soaked cloth. The device produced a steady stream of electricity when a wire was attached to either end of the disk, making it the first direct-current battery. Upon its invention, the voltaic pile was initially called "artificial electric organ" because of the similarities it shared with the electric organ of the torpedo dish. However, when Napoleon made Volta a count in 1801, the electrical unit was known as the volt in his honor. The invention of the voltaic pile led to the invention of the electrical battery and breakthroughs in electrochemistry, electromagnetism and the modern applications of electricity. Alessandro Volta enjoyed much success for his inventions and contribution to the experimental sciences of the 18th century. Alessandro Volta retired in 1819 to his estate in Camnago, Lombardy, Italy, where died on March 5, 1827, at the age of 82. Alessandro Volta - Biography, Facts and Pictures Blog Alessandro Volta Alessandro Volta was a physicist, chemist and a pioneer of electrical science.

He is most famous for his invention of the electric battery. In brief he: • Invented the first electric battery – which people then called the “voltaic pile” – in 1800. Using his invention, scientists were able to produce steady flows of electric current for the first time, unleashing a wave of new discoveries and technologies. • Was the first person to isolate methane. • Discovered methane mixed with air could be exploded using an electric spark: this is the basis of the internal combustion engine. • Discovered “contact electricity” resulting from contact between different metals. • Recognized two types of electric conduction. • Wrote the first electromotive series. This showed, from highest to lowest, the voltages that different metals can produce in a battery. (We now talk of standard electrode potentials, meaning roughly the same thing.) • Discovered that electric potential in a capacitor is directly proportional to electric charge. In recognition of Alessandro Volta’s contributions to science, the unit of electric potential is called the volt. Advertisements Early Life and Education Alessandro Volta was born in Como, Lombardy, Italy, on February 18, 1745. His family was part of the nobility, but not wealthy.

Until the age of four, he showed no signs of talking, and his family feared he was not very intelligent or possibly dumb. Fortunately, their fears were misplaced. When he was seven, his father died leaving unpaid debts. The young Alessandro Volta was educated at home by his uncle until he was twelve years old. He then started studies at a Jesuit boarding school. The Jesuit school charged no fees, but pressurized him to become a priest. His family did not want this, and withdrew him from the school after four years. Volta then studied at the Benzi Seminary until reaching eighteen years of age. Volta’s family wanted him to become a lawyer. Volta had his own ideas! He was interested in the world around him; he wanted to be a scientist. Although as a child he had been slow to speak Italian, Volta now seemed to have a special talent for languages. Before he left school, he had learned Latin, French, English and German. His language talents helped him in later life, when he traveled around Europe, discussing his work with scientists in Europe’s centers of science.

Aged 18, Volta was bold enough to begin an exchange of letters about electricity with two leading physicists: Jean-Antoine Nollet in Paris, and Giambatista Beccaria in Turin. Beccaria did not like some of Volta’s ideas and encouraged him to learn more by doing experiments. When he wrote his first dissertation, Volta addressed it and dedicated it to Beccaria. “You must be ready to give up even the most attractive ideas when experiment shows them to be wrong.” Alessandro Volta Volta’s Career Timeline Before the Battery Amateur Scientist, Inventor, Teacher and Physics Professor 1765 – Volta had reached 20 years of age. His wealthy friend Giulio Cesare Gattoni had built a physics laboratory in his home. For several years he kindly allowed Volta to do experiments in this laboratory. 1765 – Volta wrote his first scientific paper, which he addressed to Giambatista Beccaria, about static electricity generated by rubbing different substances together – i.e. triboelectricity.

1769 – Volta published a dissertation titled On the Attractive Force of the Electric Fire, and on the Phenomena Dependent On It, which he sent to Beccaria. He discussed his ideas on the causes of electrical attraction and repulsion and compared these with gravity. He set out his position that, like gravity, static electricity involved action at a distance. The main scientists influencing his thinking were Isaac Newton, Roger Boscovich, Benjamin Franklin and Giambatista Beccaria himself. 1771 – Volta read Joseph Priestley’s 1767 review of scientific research on electricity. He learned that some discoveries he had made recently had already been made by others. 1774 – Volta began work overseeing schools in Como. He said that teaching in Como’s classrooms should be modernized. He wanted the children to spend more time learning science and modern languages. 1775 – Volta began teaching experimental physics in Como’s public grammar school, where he worked until 1778. 1775 – Volta wrote a letter to Joseph Priestley. He explained how he had invented a device which was a source of static electricity: the electricity could be transferred to other objects.

We call this device the electrophorus. Volta wanted to know if the device was a new invention. Priestly told him Johann Wilcke had invented such a device in 1762, but Volta had invented it independently. Priestley encouraged Volta to keep up his interesting research work. 1776 – Aged 31, Volta was the first person to isolate methane gas. He discovered that a methane-air mixture could be exploded in a closed container with an electric spark. In the future, an electrically started chemical reaction like this would be the basis of the internal combustion engine. 1776 – Volta suggested that the sparking apparatus he used to explode methane could also be used to send an electric signal along a wire from Como to the city of Milan. “What is it possible to do well, in physics particularly, if things are not reduced to degrees and measures?” Alessandro Volta, 1792 1777 – Volta invented a much better eudiometer than any that had gone before. A eudiometer tests how much oxygen is present in air to determine how good for breathing it is.

Volta’s eudiometer was superior to others because it used hydrogen as the gas reacting with oxygen, giving a clean, reliable reaction. The reaction was also cleanly started using an electric spark. The eudiometer worked on the basis that the decrease in volume of hydrogen after sparking was proportional to the amount of oxygen present in air. 1777 – Volta set out on a scientific journey to Switzerland and France. He met other scientists and showed them his innovations in electrical equipment. He also traveled so that his name would become better known outside Italy. 1778 – Volta was appointed to the Chair of Experimental Physics at the University of Pavia, about 55 miles (85 km) from Como, a position he would hold for over 40 years. 1778 – Volta discovered that the electrical potential (we now often call this the voltage) in a capacitor is directly proportional to electrical charge. 1781 to 1782 – Volta traveled around most of Europe’s major scientific centers, including the French Academy in Paris, demonstrating his electrical equipment and inventions to eminent people such as Antoine Lavoisier and Benjamin Franklin. Volta was beginning to become well-known outside Italy.

1782 – Volta wrote about the condenser he had constructed (today we would call it a capacitor) to collect and store electric charge, and how he had used it to study a variety of electrical phenomena. 1788 – Volta built increasingly sensitive electroscopes to detect and measure the effects of electric charge. 1790 – Volta carried out experiments on the behavior of gases. He found an accurate value for air’s increasing volume with rising temperature. 1791 – Recognizing that he had become one of Europe’s foremost electrical scientists, Volta was elected to be a Fellow of the Royal Society of London. 1794 – At the age of 50, Volta was awarded the Royal Society’s top prize – the Copley Medal – for his contributions to scientific understanding of electricity. Invention of the Electric Battery A Feud over Frogs’ Legs led to the Battery Volta did not set out to invent the battery. His experiments in this area were actually performed to show the claims of another scientist were wrong. That scientist was another Italian, Luigi Galvani. Jumping Frogs’ Legs Galvani discovered that contact between frog leg nerves and different metals caused the legs to move.

We now understand that he had created an electric cell. The frog legs acted as the electrolyte and also moved when stimulated by the flow of electricity. Galvani was a professor of anatomy. In the late 1780s he noticed that a spark of static electricity carried by a metal scalpel touching the nerves of a dead frog while the legs lay on metal caused the legs to move. This was an amazing discovery: animal movement was based on electricity in some way. In 1817, this led to Mary Shelley writing Frankenstein. In this novel, a creature made from a monstrous mixture of body parts from dead people is brought to life by Doctor Frankenstein using electricity from a lightning storm. In 1791, Galvani announced his discovery of animal electricity. He believed that animals generated electricity in their bodies and that a fluid within animals’ nerves carried electricity to muscles, causing movement. He believed that electricity from an outside source released a flow of electrical fluid from the nerves, causing the muscles to jump. He also believed that animals such as electric eels could build up extra amounts of this fluid and use it to deliver electric shocks.

Galvani concluded that animal electricity was similar to static electricity, but it was different and was a unique property of living things. Enter Volta Volta studied Galvani’s phenomenon. In 1792, Volta said that the “animal” part of Galvani’s animal electricity was not needed. Animals merely responded to normal electricity. There was no difference between animal electricity and electricity. Volta performed various experiments on frogs’ legs. He found the key to getting them to move was contact with two different metals. Contact with pieces of the same metal did nothing. Then, moving away from frogs’ legs, in 1794, Volta did experiments to measure the electrical effect of bringing different pairs of metals into contact. He listed the metals in order of what he called their electromotive force. Volta’s List Of Conductors, Highest Electromotive Force First Zinc Graphite Manganese Ore This was the first time anyone had listed electrode potentials. It was the first electrochemical series. In modern language, we would say that the farther apart the substances on this list are, the greater the voltage they will produce when brought into contact or used as the electrodes in electric cells and batteries.

For example, a zinc-graphite cell will produce a greater voltage than a zinc-lead cell. By 1797, Volta had completely proved his “contact theory” of electricity. He now knew that the key to producing what today we call a voltage was two metals connected by by something moist, like frogs’ legs. The moist connection between the metals did NOT have to be an animal. Connecting the metals by placing them in a cup of dilute acid was a very effective way of producing electricity. He formally split electrical conductors into those of the first kind: these were metals, graphite and pure charcoal; and the second kind: these were substances we would now call electrolytes, such as salt water or dilute acids. An electric current would result when a circuit was built using two conductors of the first kind combined with one of the second kind. An illustration from Volta’s 1800 paper. Pieces of silver (A) and zinc (Z) connected by metal strips and sitting in cups of dilute acid will produce electricity. This could be tested by putting a finger in each of the end cups. You would get an electric shock.

Unlike Galvani’s version, no animals need be hurt in this production, except for the human tester who gets a mild electric shock. Alternatively, connecting the metals with paper soaked in dilute acid or salt water also worked. Volta said that in Galvani’s work, the frogs’ legs had served two functions: They conducted electricity as conductors of the second kind. They acted as a very sensitive electroscope. (An electroscope is a device used to detect electricity.) Diagram from Volta’s 1800 paper. The pile is made using discs of silver (A) and zinc (Z) linked in series with card soaked in salt water. The positive and negative polarities of this battery are as shown. Adding more pairs of discs increases the voltage of the battery. Volta found that by connecting up more and more pairs of metals connected with moist card, he could produce ever higher voltages, leading to significant electrical currents. And so the electrical battery was born. Volta used alternating zinc and silver discs linked by card or cloth soaked in salt water. In 1800, Volta described his results in a letter to Joseph Banks, at the Royal Society in London.

Banks showed the letter to other scientists, and arranged for Volta’s description of his discovery to be read out at a meeting of the Society and published. “I continue coupling a plate of silver with one of zinc, and always in the same order… and place between each of these couples a moistened disk. I continue to form a column. If the column contains about twenty of these couples of metal, it will be capable of giving to the fingers several small shocks.” Alessandro Volta, 1800 Volta’s Battery Unleashed a Wave of New Scientific Discoveries The battery that Volta had invented gave chemists a very powerful new method to study substances. The beauty of Volta’s device was that almost anyone could make one – silver and copper coins were available to many people, as were other metals such as iron, tin and zinc. Within weeks of Volta’s invention of the battery, William Nicholson and Anthony Carlisle built and used a battery to decompose water into hydrogen and oxygen. Within just six years, Humphry Davy had built a powerful battery. With it, he isolated new chemical elements, and deduced that chemical bonds were electrical in nature.

Volta demonstrates his battery to Napoleon Bonoparte in 1801. Napoleon was very impressed by Volta’s work, giving him the aristocratic title of Count. Davy’s discoveries of the new elements barium, calcium, lithium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, and strontium, were all made possible by Volta’s invention of the battery. By 1820, courtesy of Volta’s batteries, Hans Christian Oersted was investigating the relationship between electricity and magnetism. By 1821, Michael Faraday had produced an electric motor. Volta’s battery produced a steady source of electric current for the first time ever. All electrical devices depend on electric current. Without Volta’s invention, there could be no modern technology. Volta’s battery was an absolutely crucial invention in the development of our technology based civilization. The End In 1819, at the age of 74, Volta decided it was time to hang up his capacitors, his voltaic piles, his electrophorus, and his administrative work at the university. He retired to a country house close to his home town of Como, where he could spend more time with his wife, Maria Teresa.

They had three sons, Zanino, Faminio and Luigi. Volta lived in Como until his death, aged 82, on March 5, 1827. In 1881, scientists decided that the unit of electric potential would be called the volt to recognize Volta’s great contributions to electrical science. Advertisements Author of this page: The Doc © All rights reserved. Please use the following MLA compliant citation: "Alessandro Volta." Famous Scientists. famousscientists.org. 28 Jul. 2014. Web. < 12 scientists and their brilliant inventions Hans Christian Oersted Alessandro Volta: Google lights up for inventor of the battery | Technology | The Guardian Google doodle Alessandro Volta: Google lights up for inventor of the battery Italian scientist, who invented an early form of the battery in 1799, would be 270 years old today Google’s Doodle commemorating Alessandro Volta.

Photograph: Google Guardian Staff Wednesday 18 February 2015 02.38 EST First published on Tuesday 17 February 2015 20.27 EST Close This article is 1 year old Google’s latest doodle celebrates the birthday of Alessandro Volta, who invented an early form of the electric battery in 1799. Volta’s invention consisted of discs of different metals, including copper and zinc, separated by cardboard that had been soaked in brine. Born in 1745 in the town of Como in what is now northern Italy, Volta was the son of a nobleman. He became a professor of physics in 1774 at Como’s Royal School before going on to work on the development of the “electrophorus”, a device that produced static electricity. Alessandro Volta: inventor of the electrical pile | Charlotte Connelly Read more His voltaic pile, an early electric battery that produced a steady current, was developed in 1800 at a time when competing theories existed about how electricity was generated.

One theory, popularised by Luigi Galvani, was that there was a special electricity in animals, which he demonstrated by connecting two different metals with a frog’s leg. Volta came to the conclusion that it was the liquid in the frog’s leg that was important rather than the frog itself. The same effect was achieved after he replaced the leg with paper soaked in brine. After being made a count in 1810 by Napoleon Bonaparte, Volta retired in 1819 to his estate in Camnago, where he died in 1827. Information on the Invention of the Battery - Battery University Battery University BU-101: When Was the Battery Invented? Explore the earliest forms of batteries and the arrival of electricity. One of the most remarkable and novel discoveries in the last 400 years was electricity. We might ask, “Has electricity been around that long?” The answer is yes, and perhaps much longer. Its practical use has only been at our disposal since the mid to late 1800s, and in a limited way at first.

Some of the earliest public works gaining attention were streets lights in Berlin in 1882, lighting up the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893 with 250,000 light bulbs, and illuminating a bridge over the river Seine during the Paris 1900 World Fair. The use of electricity may go back further. While constructing a railway in 1936 near Baghdad, workers uncovered what appeared to be a prehistoric battery, also known as the Parthian Battery. The object dates back to the Parthian empire and is believed to be 2,000 years old. The battery consisted of a clay jar that was filled with a vinegar solution into which an iron rod surrounded by a copper cylinder was inserted. This device produced 1.1 to 2.0 volts of electricity. Figure 1 illustrates the Parthian Battery. . Figure 1: Parthian Battery. A clay jar of a prehistoric battery holds an iron rod surrounded by a copper cylinder. When filled with vinegar or electrolytic solution, the jar produces 1.1 to 2 volts. Not all scientists accept the Parthian Battery as a source of energy.

It is possible that the device was used for electroplating, adding a layer of gold or other precious metals to a surface. The Egyptians are said to have electroplated antimony onto copper over 4,300 years ago. Archeological evidence suggests the Babylonians were the first to discover and employ a galvanic technique in the manufacturing of jewelry by using an electrolyte based on grape juice to gold-plate stoneware. The Parthians, who ruled Baghdad (ca. 250 BC), may have used batteries to electroplate silver. One of the earliest methods to generate electricity in modern times was by creating a static charge. In 1660, Otto von Guericke constructed an electrical machine using a large sulfur globe which, when rubbed and turned, attracted feathers and small pieces of paper. Guericke was able to prove that the sparks generated were electrical in nature. In 1744, Ewald Georg von Kleist developed the Leyden jar that stored static charge in a glass jar that was lined with metallic foil on the inside and outside of the container.

Many scientists, including Peter van Musschenbroek, professor at Leiden, the Netherlands, thought that electricity resembled a fluid that could be captured in a bottle. They did not know that the two metallic foils formed a capacitor. When charged up with high voltage, the Leyden jar gave the gentlemen an unexplainable hefty shock when they touched the metallic foil. The first practical use of static electricity was the “electric pistol” that Alessandro Volta (1745–1827) invented. He thought of providing long-distance communications, albeit only one Boolean bit. An iron wire supported by wooden poles was to be strung from Como to Milan, Italy. At the receiving end, the wire would terminate in a jar filled with methane gas. To signal a coded event, an electrical spark would be sent by wire to detonate the jar. This communications link was never built. Figure 1-2 shows a pencil rendering of Alessandro Volta. In 1791, while working at Bologna University, Luigi Galvani discovered that the muscle of a frog would contract when touched by a metallic object. This phenomenon became known as animal electricity.

Prompted by these experiments, Volta initiated a series of experiments using zinc, lead, tin and iron as positive plates (cathode); and copper, silver, gold and graphite as negative plates (anode). The interest in galvanic electricity soon became widespread. Early Batteries Volta discovered in 1800 that certain fluids would generate a continuous flow of electrical power when used as a conductor. This discovery led to the invention of the first voltaic cell, more commonly known as battery. Volta learned further that the voltage would increase when voltaic cells were stacked on top of each other. Figure 3 illustrates such a series connection. Silver (A) and zinc (Z) metals are immersed in cups filled with electrolyte and connected in series The metals determine the battery voltage; they were separated with moist paper soaked in salt water. Courtesy of Cadex In the same year, Volta released his discovery of a continuous source of electricity to the Royal Society of London. No longer were experiments limited to a brief display of sparks that lasted a fraction of a second; an endless stream of electric current now seemed possible. France was one of the first nations to officially recognize Volta’s discoveries.

This was during a time when France was approaching the height of scientific advancements. New ideas were welcomed with open arms as they helped to support of the country’s political agenda. In a series of lectures, Volta addressed the Institute of France. Napoleon Bonaparte participated in the experiments, drawing sparks from the battery, melting a steel wire, discharging an electric pistol and decomposing water into its elements (see Figure 4). Figure 4: Volta’s experimentations at the Institute of France. Volta’s discoveries so impressed the world that in November 1800 the Institute of France invited him to lecture at events in which Napoleon Bonaparte participated. Napoleon helped with the experiments, drawing sparks from the battery, melting a steel wire, discharging an electric pistol and decomposing water into its elements. Courtesy of Cadex In 1800, Sir Humphry Davy, inventor of the miner’s safety lamp, began testing the chemical effects of electricity and found out that decomposition occurred when passing electrical current through substances. This process was later called electrolysis.

He made new discoveries by installing the world’s largest and most powerful electric battery in the vaults of the Royal Institution of London, connecting the battery to charcoal electrodes produced the first electric light. Witnesses reported that his voltaic arc lamp produced “the most brilliant ascending arch of light ever seen.” In 1802, William Cruickshank designed the first electric battery for mass production. He arranged square sheets of copper with equal-sized sheets of zinc placed into a long rectangular wooden box and soldered together. Grooves in the box held the metal plates in position. The sealed box was then filled with an electrolyte of brine, or watered-down acid. This resembled the flooded battery that is still with us today. Figure 5 illustrates his battery workshop. Figure 5: Cruickshank and the first flooded battery. William Cruickshank, an English chemist, built a battery of electric cells by joining zinc and copper plates in a wooden box filled with an electrolyte solution. This flooded design had the advantage of not drying out with use and provided more energy than Volta’s disc arrangement. Courtesy of Cadex Invention of the Rechargeable Battery In 1836, John F.

Daniell, an English chemist, developed an improved battery that produced a steadier current than earlier attempts to store electrical energy. In 1859, the French physician Gaston Planté invented the first rechargeable battery based on lead acid, a system that is still used today. Until then, all batteries were primary, meaning they could not be recharged. In 1899, Waldmar Jungner from Sweden invented the nickel-cadmium (NiCd) battery that used nickel as the positive electrode (cathode) and cadmium as the negative (anode). High material costs compared to lead limited its use. Two years later, Thomas Edison replaced cadmium with iron, and this battery was called nickel-iron (NiFe). Low specific energy, poor performance at low temperature and high self-discharge limited the success of the nickel-iron battery. It was not until 1932 that Schlecht and Ackermann achieved higher load currents and improved the longevity of NiCd by inventing the sintered pole plate. In 1947, Georg Neumann succeeded in sealing the cell. For many years, NiCd was the only rechargeable battery for portable applications.

In the 1990s, environmentalists in Europe became concerned about the harm incurred when NiCd is carelessly disposed. The Battery Directive 2006/66/EC now restricts the sale of NiCd batteries in the European Union except for specialty industrial use for which no replacement is suitable. The alternative is nickel-metal-hydride (NiMH), a more environmentally friendly battery that is similar to NiCd. Most research activities today revolve around improving lithium-based systems , first commercialized by Sony in 1991. Besides powering cellular phones, laptops, digital cameras, power tools and medical devices, Li-ion is also used for electric vehicles and satellites . The battery has a number of benefits, most notably its high specific energy, simple charging, low maintenance and being environmentally benign. Electricity Through Magnetism Generating electricity through magnetism came relatively late. In 1820, André-Marie Ampère (1775–1836) noticed that wires carrying an electric current were at times attracted to, and at other times repelled from, one another.

In 1831, Michael Faraday (1791–1867) demonstrated how a copper disc provided a constant flow of electricity while revolving in a strong magnetic field. Faraday, assisting Humphry Davy and his research team, succeeded in generating an endless electrical force as long as the movement between a coil and magnet continued. This led to the invention of the electric generator, as well as the electric motor by reversing the process. Shortly thereafter, transformers were developed that converted alternating current (AC) to any desired voltage. In 1833, Faraday established the foundation of electrochemistry on which Faraday’s law is based. It relates to electromagnetism found in transformers, inductors and many types of electrical motors and generators. Once the relationship with magnetism was understood, large generators were built to produce a steady flow of electricity. Motors followed that enabled mechanical movement and Thomas Edison’s light bulb appeared to conquer darkness. Early electrical plants produced direct current (DC), with distribution limitations from the plant of no more than 3km (~2 miles) in distance.

In around 1886, the Niagara Falls Power Company offered $100,000 for a method to transmit electricity over a long distance. When no one responded, the world’s brightest minds met in London, England. The prize was eventually given to Nikola Tesla (1856–1943), a Serbian immigrant who created the AC transmission system. Figure 6: Nikola Tesla (1856–1943). Serbian-American physicist, inventor and engineer best known for alternating current supply systems and rotating magnetic fields. DC systems run on low voltage and require heavy wires; AC could be transformed to higher voltages for transmission over light wires and then reduced for use. Older folks supported DC while younger geniuses gravitated towards AC. Thomas Edison was dead set against AC, giving danger by electrocution as a reason. The disagreement continued, but AC became the accepted norm that was also supported by Europe. George Westinghouse, an American inventor and manufacturer, began developing the Tesla system to the displeasure of Thomas Edison.

In 1883, Westinghouse created a lighting system for Niagara Falls using AC current and to everyone’s amazement lit up the Chicago World Fair in 1893 (Figure 7). Westinghouse then built three large generators to transform energy from the Niagara Falls to electricity. Three-phase AC technology developed by Tesla enabled the transmission of electric power over great distances cheaply. Electricity was thus made widely available to humanity to improve the quality of life. Figure 7: 250,000 light bulbs illuminate the Chicago World Fair in 1893, also known as Chicago's World Columbian Exposition. The success of the electric light led to building three large hydro generators at Niagara Falls. Source: Brooklyn Museum Archives. Goodyear Archival Collection Telecommunications by wire that was strung along railways operated mostly by primary batteries that needed frequent replacement. Telex, an early means to transmit data, was digital in that the batteries activated a series of relays. The price to send a message was based on the number of relay clicks required. In the mid-1800s, telegraphy opened new careers for bright young men.

Staff operating these devices moved into the growing middle class, far removed from mills and mines burdened with labor, dirt and danger. Steel magnate Andrew Carnegie recalled his early days as a telegraphy messenger: Alfred Hitchcock started his career as an estimator before becoming an illustrator. The invention of the electronic vacuum tube in the early 1900s formed the significant next step towards high technology. It enabled frequency oscillators, signal amplifications and digital switching. This led to radio broadcasting in the 1920s and the first digital computer, called ENIAC, in 1946. The discovery of the transistor in 1947 paved the way for the arrival of the integrated circuit 10 years later, and the microprocessor that ushered in the Information Age. This forever changed the way we live and work. Humanity has become dependent on electricity and with increased mobility, people gravitate towards portable power involving the battery. As the battery improves further, more tasks will be made possible with this portable power source. Last Updated 2016-06-02 *** Please Read Regarding Comments *** Comments are intended for "commenting," an open discussion amongst site visitors.

Battery University monitors the comments and understands the importance of expressing perspectives and opinions in a shared forum. However, all communication must be done with the use of appropriate language and the avoidance of spam and discrimination. If you have a suggestion or would like to report an error, please use the " contact us " form or email us at: BatteryU@cadex.com . We like to hear from you but we cannot answer all inquiries. We recommend posting your question in the comment sections for the Battery University Group (BUG) to share. Super Scientists - Count Alessandro Volta Count Alessandro Volta (1745 - 1827) Born in Como, Italy, into a noble family, Count Volta was a physicist and pioneer in the study of electricity. "Volt," named after Count Volta, is a measurement of electricity. Count Volta also made discoveries in electrostatics, meteorology and pneumatics. His most famous invention, however, is the first battery. The idea came from Luigi Galvani, an anatomist. Galvani was dissecting a frog when the frog's leg began to twitch. Galvani thought was because of some type of electrical action in the vicinity, such as lightening.

Volta tried to duplicate the experiment, and he did on a clear day when there was no lightening. Through experimentation, Volta realized that the two different metal objects holding the frog leg might be the source of the action. Over a period of several years he worked out that the wet muscle tissue conducted a current between the two different type of metals. Volta modified this effect to produce the first continuous flow of electric current. Around 1800, he invented a wet battery called a Voltaic Pile. The Voltaic Pile consisted of discs of copper and zinc separated by discs of paper or cardboard (soaked in salt water). Attached to the top and bottom of this "Pile" was a copper wire. When Volta closed the circuit, electricity flowed through the pile. Volta's battery was later refined by other scientists, and the French emperor, Napoleon, made Volta a "Count" for his discovery. More about Alessandro Volta

Question: What was invented by Alessandro Volta in 1800?
Answer: Battery