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 Electric Battery History - Invention of the Electric Battery Invention: electric battery in 1800 Function: noun / electric batï¿½tery 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. Inventor: Count Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta Criteria: First to invent.

Birth: February 18, 1745.in Como, Lombardy, Italy Death: March 5, 1827.in Como, Lombardy, Italy Nationality: Italian Milestones: 1650 German physicist Otto von Guericke experimented with generating electricity 1729 The English physicist Stephen Gray discovered electrical conductivity 1752 Ben Franklin studied the properties of electricity by conducting his kite flying experiment 1780 Luigi Galvani erroneously discovers "animal electricity" 1794 Alessandro Volta believes that a chemical interaction causes electricity 1800 Alessandro Volta developed the so-called voltaic pile, a forerunner of the electric battery 1813 Sir Humphry Davy deduced that electrolysis was the action that produced electricity 1820 John Daniell invented a cell consisting of copper and zinc plates and copper and zinc sulphate 1834 Michael Faraday conducted experiments with a ferrite ring, a galvanometer, and a battery 1834 Michael Faraday also developed the principle of ionic mobility in chemical reactions of batteries. 1836 John F.

Daniell an English chemist, produced a cell that was not subject to polarization. 1839 William Grove developed the first fuel cell, produced energy using hydrogen and oxygen 1859 Gaston Plante invents lead acid storage battery "wet cell" 1868 Georges Leclanche invents "single fluid electric generating battery".using zinc 1881 Emile Alphonse Faure developed batteries using a mixture of lead oxides for the positive plate 1886 German scientist, Dr. Carl Gassner Jr. invents the first "dry cell" batteries. (US 373,064) 1886 The National Carbon Co. was founded the then Brush Electric Co. executive W. H. Lawrence 1896 First commercial battery for sale.

Carbon-zinc battery by National Carbon Company 1898 National Carbon Company introduces the first D cell battery 1898 Nathan Stubblefield, combined primary and secondary electric battery (US 600,457) 1898 Conrad Hubert invents "electric hand torch" flashlight 1900 Thomas Alva Edison invents storage battery 1900 Waldemar Junger and Karl Berg invent nickel-cadmium battery (ni-cad) 1905 American Electrical Novelty & Mfg. Co renamed The American Ever Ready Company 1914 National Carbon Company buys half interest in The American Ever Ready Company 1917 National Carbon Co. merged with Union Carbide to form The Union Carbide and Carbon Co 1942 Samuel Ruben and Philip Rogers Mallory developed the mercury cell. 1949 Lew Urry developed the small alkaline battery at the Eveready Battery Company laboratory 1953 Samuel Ruben improved the alkaline manganese battery 1954 The Mallory Battery Company introduced alkaline manganese cells in a new size, the AAA.

1954 Gerald Pearson , Daryl Chapin , and Calvin Fuller invent the first solar battery or solar cell 1955 Russell S. Ohl developed a wafer of silicon that produced free electrons 1956:Eveready Battery Company develops the 9-volt battery 1956 Francis Thomas Bacon developed the hydrogen - oxygen fuel cell 1959:Eveready Battery Company introduces the first commercially available alkaline battery. 1960:Miniature silver-oxide or ï¿½button batteriesï¿½ are developed for hearing aides and watches. 1960 First nickel-cadmium rechargeable battery system is developed by Waldmar Junger in Sweden. 1964 Duracell brand alkaline batteries introduced by the Mallory Battery Company 1989 The Energizer Bunny starts "going and going" 1992:The first lithium batteries are commercially available. Powerful AA-size batteries battery, electric battery, voltic pile, wet cell, dry cell, Alessandro Volta, Luigi Galvani, John F. Daniell, William R.

Grove, Gaston Plante, Georges Leclanche, Thomas Alva Edison, Carl Gassner Jr, Waldemar Junger, Karl Berg, Lew Urry, volt, invention, history, inventor of, history of, who invented, invention of, fascinating facts. The Story: Electricity has fascinated human kind since our ancestors first witnessed lightning. In ancient Greece, Thales observed that an electric charge could be generated by rubbing amber, for which the Greek word is electron. In 1938 a jar was found just outside Baghdad, Iraq (that may be, could be or is believed to be) the first battery. The jar is about 2000 years old from the Parthian period. The jar is composed of a clay jar with a stopper made of asphalt. Sticking through the asphalt is an iron rod surrounded by a copper cylinder. When filled with vinegar - or any other electrolytic solution - the jar produces about 1.1 volts. But, such ancient knowledge in the history of electricity bears no known continuous relationship to the development of modern batteries.

Its form, though, is nearly identical to the principles that are in use today The German physicist Otto von Guericke experimented with generating electricity in 1650. The English physicist Stephen Gray discovered electrical conductivity in 1729. The American statesman and inventor Benjamin Franklin studied the properties of electricity by conducting his famous experiment of flying a kite with a key attached during electrical storms in 1752. Luigi Galvani is famous for his experiments concerning "the electrical forces in muscular movements", leading up to his theory of animal electricity. This began with the accidental observation, in 1780, of the twitching of the legs of a dissected frog when the bared crural nerve was touched with the steel scalpel. He worked diligently along these lines, but waited for eleven years before he published the results and his ingenious and simple theory. This theory discovered that when nerve and muscle touch two dissimilar metals in contact with each other, a contraction of the muscle takes place. But he incorrectly thought fluid in the frog's body was the source of the electricity. The theory has been abandoned by scientists on account of later discoveries by Italian inventor Alessandro Volta.

Volta proved that the source of the electricity was a reaction caused by the animal's body fluids being touched by two different types of metal. Beginning his work in 1794, Volta observed the electrical interaction between two different metals submerged near each other in an acidic solution. Based on this principle, his first battery consisted of a series of alternating copper and zinc rings in an acid solution known as an electrolyte. His device for generating a consistent flow of electricity was invented in 1800. He called his invention a column battery, although it came to be commonly known as the Volta battery, Voltaic cell or Voltaic pile. Voltaï¿½s discovery of a means of converting chemical energy into electrical energy formed the basis for nearly all modern batteries. Volta researched the effects which different metals produced when exposed to salt water. In 1801, Volta demonstrated the Voltaic cell to Napoleon Bonaparte (who later ennobled him, Count, for his discoveries). In 1800 , William Nicholson and Anthony Carlisle used a battery to decompose water into hydrogen and oxygen. Sir Humphry Davy researched this chemical effect at the same time.

Davy researched the decomposition of substances (called electrolysis ). In 1813 , he constructed a 2,000-plate paired battery in the basement of Britain's Royal Society, covering 889 ftï¿½ (83 mï¿½). Through this experiment, Davy deduced that electrolysis was the action in the voltaic pile that produced electricity. In 1820, the British researcher John Frederic Daniell improved the voltaic cell. The Daniell cell consisted of copper and zinc plates and copper and zinc sulphates . It was used to operate telegraphs and doorbells. Between 1832 and 1834 , Michael Faraday conducted experiments with a ferrite ring , a galvanometer, and a connected battery. When the battery was connected or disconnected, the galvanometer deflected. Faraday also developed the principle of ionic mobility in chemical reactions of batteries. In 1839 , William Robert Grove developed the first fuel cell, which produced electrical energy by combining hydrogen and oxygen. Grove developed another form the electric cell using zinc and platinum electrodes. These electrodes were exposed to two acids separated by a diaphragm.

The next step in the evolution of electrical energy storage was the invention of the lead acid storage battery in 1859 by the French physicist Gaston Plante. This chemical battery used a liquid electrolyte, and was not easy to move. Based on the pioneering work done between 1867 and 1877 by Georges Leclanche in France, the situation showed promise of changing to a more portable battery. Around 1881, Emile Alphonse Faure , with his colleagues, developed batteries using a mixture of lead oxides for the positive plate electrolyte. These had faster reactions and higher efficiency. Dr. Carl Gassner Jr. produced the first "dry" cell in 1886 with zinc as the container for the other elements as well as for the negative electrode. The electrolyte was absorbed in a porous material and the cell was sealed across the top. During 1886 Dr. Gassner obtained patents throughout Europe. A U.S. patent no. 373,064 was issued on November 15, 1887.

In the dry cell battery, the electrolyte is a damp paste so that there is no liquid to leak out, and thus quite portable. It became the prototype for the dry battery industry. The National Carbon Company was founded in 1886 by the then Brush Electric Company executive W. H. Lawrence. The company would supply carbon items needed in electrical devices such as carbon-arc electrodes, motor brushes and rods used in carbon-zinc batteries. That same year the first commercial battery went on sale. It was a carbon-zinc battery introduced by National Carbon Company. In 1898 the National Carbon Company introduces the first D cell battery. In 1905, National Carbon Company which had supplied "Eveready" with materials for their batteries, bought a half interest in the company for $200,000. Conrad Hubert remained president and there was little change in the general policies of the company. The name was changed to "The American Ever Ready Company". In 1914, American Ever Ready became part of National Carbon Company now forming a manufacturer specializing in both batteries and lighting products.

Since those early days, either 2000 years ago or 200 years ago, many improvements have been made to the battery. Even today chemist, scientists and inventors are working to find additional improvements and new applications for the electric battery. TO LEARN MORE History of the Battery By Mary Bellis Updated August 06, 2016. A battery, which is actually an electric cell, is a device that produces electricity from a chemical reaction. In a one cell battery , you would find a negative electrode; an electrolyte, which conducts ions; a separator, also an ion conductor; and a positive electrode. Timeline of Battery History 1748 - Benjamin Franklin first coined the term "battery" to describe an array of charged glass plates. 1780 to 1786 - Luigi Galvani demonstrated what we now understand to be the electrical basis of nerve impulses and provided the cornerstone of research for later inventors like Volta to create batteries. 1800 Voltaic Pile - Alessandro Volta invented the Voltaic Pile and discovered the first practical method of generating electricity.

Constructed of alternating discs of zinc and copper with pieces of cardboard soaked in brine between the metals, the Voltic Pile produced electrical current. The metallic conducting arc was used to carry the electricity over a greater distance. Alessandro Volta's voltaic pile was the first "wet cell battery" that produced a reliable, steady current of electricity. continue reading below our video 5 Best Places to Retire 1836 Daniell Cell- The Voltaic Pile could not deliver an electrical current for a long period of time. Englishman, John F. Daniell invented the Daniell Cell that used two electrolytes: copper sulfate and zinc sulfate. The Daniel Cell lasted longer then the Volta cell or pile. This battery, which produced about 1.1 volts, was used to power objects such as telegraphs, telephones, and doorbells, remained popular in homes for over 100 years. 1839 Fuel Cell - William Robert Grove developed the first fuel cell , which produced electrical by combining hydrogen and oxygen. 1839 to 1842 - Inventors created improvements to batteries that used liquid electrodes to produce electricity.

Bunsen (1842) and Grove (1839) invented the most successful. 1859 Rechargeable - French inventor, Gaston Plante developed the first practical storage lead-acid battery that could be recharged (secondary battery). This type of battery is primarily used in cars today. 1866 Leclanche Carbon-Zinc Cell - French engineer, Georges Leclanche patented the carbon-zinc wet cell battery called the Leclanche cell. According to The History of Batteries: "George Leclanche's original cell was assembled in a porous pot. The positive electrode consisted of crushed manganese dioxide with a little carbon mixed in. The negative pole was a zinc rod. The cathode was packed into the pot, and a carbon rod was inserted to act as a currency collector. The anode or zinc rod and the pot were then immersed in an ammonium chloride solution. The liquid acted as the electrolyte, readily seeping through the porous cup and making contact with the cathode material.

The liquid acted as the electrolyte, readily seeping through the porous cup and making contact with the cathode material." Georges Leclanche then further improved his design by substituting the ammonium chloride paste for liquid electrolyte and invented a method of sealing the battery, inventing the first dry cell, an improved design that was now transportable. 1881 - J.A. Thiebaut patented the first battery with both the negative electrode and porous pot placed in a zinc cup. 1881 - Carl Gassner invented the first commercially successful dry cell battery (zinc-carbon cell). 1899 - Waldmar Jungner invented the first nickel-cadmium rechargeable battery. 1901 Alkaline Storage - Thomas Alva Edison invented the alkaline storage battery. Thomas Edison's alkaline cell had iron as the anode material (-) and nickelic oxide as the cathode material (+). 1949 Alkaline-Manganese Battery - Lew Urry developed the small alkaline battery in 1949. The inventor was working for the Eveready Battery Co. at their research laboratory in Parma, Ohio.

Alkaline batteries last five to eight times as long as zinc-carbon cells, their predecessors. 1954 Solar Cells - Gerald Pearson, Calvin Fuller and Daryl Chapin invented the first solar battery . A solar battery converts the sun's energy to electricity. In 1954, Gerald Pearson, Calvin Fuller and Daryl Chapin invented the first solar battery. The inventors created an array of several strips of silicon (each about the size of a razorblade), placed them in sunlight, captured the free electrons and turned them into electrical current . Bell Laboratories in New York announced the prototype manufacture of a new solar battery. Bell had funded the research. The first public service trial of the Bell Solar Battery began with a telephone carrier system (Americus, Georgia) on October 4 1955. 1964 - Duracell was incorporated. 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. Who Discovered Electricity? - Universe Today Universe Today by Nancy Atkinson Electricity is a form of energy and it occurs in nature, so it was not “invented.” As to who discovered it, many misconceptions abound. Some give credit to Benjamin Franklin for discovering electricity, but his experiments only helped establish the connection between lightning and electricity, nothing more. The truth about the discovery of electricity is a bit more complex than a man flying his kite. It actually goes back more than two thousand years.

In about 600 BC, the Ancient Greeks discovered that rubbing fur on amber (fossilized tree resin) caused an attraction between the two – and so what the Greeks discovered was actually static electricity. Additionally, researchers and archeologists in the 1930’s discovered pots with sheets of copper inside that they believe may have been ancient batteries meant to produce light at ancient Roman sites. Similar devices were found in archeological digs near Baghdad meaning ancient Persians may have also used an early form of batteries. A replica and diagram of one of the ancient electric cells (batteries) found near Bagdad. But by the 17th century, many electricity-related discoveries had been made, such as the invention of an early electrostatic generator, the differentiation between positive and negative currents, and the classification of materials as conductors or insulators. In the year 1600, English physician William Gilbert used the Latin word “electricus” to describe the force that certain substances exert when rubbed against each other. A few years later another English scientist, Thomas Browne, wrote several books and he used the word “electricity” to describe his investigations based on Gilbert’s work. Benjamin Franklin.

Image Source: Wikipedia In 1752, Ben Franklin conducted his experiment with a kite, a key, and a storm. This simply proved that lightning and tiny electric sparks were the same thing. Italian physicist Alessandro Volta discovered that particular chemical reactions could produce electricity, and in 1800 he constructed the voltaic pile (an early electric battery) that produced a steady electric current, and so he was the first person to create a steady flow of electrical charge. Volta also created the first transmission of electricity by linking positively-charged and negatively-charged connectors and driving an electrical charge, or voltage, through them. In 1831 electricity became viable for use in technology when Michael Faraday created the electric dynamo (a crude power generator), which solved the problem of generating electric current in an ongoing and practical way. Faraday’s rather crude invention used a magnet that was moved inside a coil of copper wire, creating a tiny electric current that flowed through the wire. This opened the door to American Thomas Edison and British scientist Joseph Swan who each invented the incandescent filament light bulb in their respective countries in about 1878.

Previously, light bulbs had been invented by others, but the incandescent bulb was the first practical bulb that would light for hours on end. Replica of Thomas Edison’s first lightbulb. Credit: National Park Service. Swan and Edison later set up a joint company to produce the first practical filament lamp, and Edison used his direct-current system (DC) to provide power to illuminate the first New York electric street lamps in September 1882. Later in the 1800’s and early 1900’s Serbian American engineer, inventor, and all around electrical wizard Nikola Tesla became an important contributor to the birth of commercial electricity. He worked with Edison and later had many revolutionary developments in electromagnetism, and had competing patents with Marconi for the invention of radio. He is well known for his work with alternating current (AC), AC motors, and the polyphase distribution system. Later, American inventor and industrialist George Westinghouse purchased and developed Tesla’s patented motor for generating alternating current, and the work of Westinghouse, Tesla and others gradually convinced American society that the future of electricity lay with AC rather than DC.

Others who worked to bring the use of electricity to where it is today include Scottish inventor James Watt, Andre Ampere, a French mathematician, and German mathematician and physicist George Ohm. And so, it was not just one person who discovered electricity. While the concept of electricity was known for thousands of years, when it came time to develop it commercially and scientifically, there were several great minds working on the problem at the same time. We have written many articles about electricity for Universe Today. Here’s a separate article about static electricity, and here’s an interesting story about how astronomy was part of how electricity was brought to the World’s Fair in Chicago in 1933. For more detailed information about the discovery of electricity, see our sources, below. We’ve also recorded an entire episode of Astronomy Cast all about Electromagnetism. Listen here, Episode 103: Electromagnetism . Sources: 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 When Was the Battery Invented? When Was the Battery Invented? Isidor Buchmann, Cadex Electronics, Inc isidor.buchmann@cadex.com The battery, today’s technological necessity, is the result of 400 years of scientific effort.

One of the most remarkable and novel discoveries in the last 400 years is electricity. One may ask, “Has electricity been around that long?” The answer is yes and perhaps much longer, but the practical use of electricity has only been at our disposal since the mid to late 1800s. One of the early electrical attractions that gained public attention was an electrically illuminated bridge over the Seine River during the 1900 World’s Fair in Paris. The use of electricity may go back much farther. While constructing a new railway in 1936 near Baghdad, workers uncovered what appeared to be a prehistoric battery. The discovery was known as the Baghdad or Parthian battery (see Figure 1) and was believed to be 2000 years old, dating back to the Parthian period [The Parthian empire existed in what is now Iran from 247 BC-224 AD. — Ed.]. The battery consisted of a clay jar filled with vinegar. An iron rod surrounded by a copper cylinder penetrated into the liquid and produced 1.1 to 2 V of electricity.

Not all scientists accept the Parthian battery as being a source of energy because the application is unknown. [There are alternative explanations for the Parthian battery but it does work as a battery. — Ed.] It is possible that the battery was used for electroplating a layer of gold or other precious metals onto a surface. The Egyptians are said to have electroplated antimony onto copper over 4300 years ago. Modern Battery Experiments The earliest method of generating electricity was by inducing a static charge in some substance. In 1660, Otto von Guericke (1602-1686) constructed the first electrical machine consisting of a large sulphur globe that, when rubbed and turned, attracted feathers and small pieces of paper. Guericke was able to prove that the sparks generated were electrical in nature. The first practical use of static electricity was the “electric pistol,” which was invented by Alessandro Volta (1745-1827). An electrical wire was placed in a jar filled with methane gas. When an electrical spark was sent through the wire, the jar would explode.

Volta (see Figure 2) then thought of using this invention to provide 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 the wire to detonate the electric pistol. This communications link was never built. In 1791, while working at the University of Bologna, Luigi Galvani (1737-1798) discovered that the muscle of a frog contracted when touched by dissimilar metallic objects. This phenomenon became known as “animal electricity” — a misnomer, as was later proved. Prompted by these experiments, Volta initiated a series of experiments using dissimilar metals. He tried combining zinc, lead, tin or iron as positive plates and copper, silver, gold or graphite as the negative plates. Early Batteries Volta discovered in 1800 that certain fluids would generate a continuous flow of electrical power when combined with a pair of dissimilar metals. This discovery led to the invention of the first voltaic cell, more commonly known as a battery.

Volta discovered further that the voltage would increase when voltaic cells were stacked on top of each other. Figure 3 illustrates such a serial connection. In the same year, Volta released his discovery of a continuous source of electricity to the Royal Society. No longer were experiments limited to a brief display of sparks that lasted a fraction of a second. A seemingly endless stream of electric current was now available. France was one of the first nations to officially recognize Volta’s discoveries. France was approaching the height of scientific advancements and new ideas were welcomed with open arms. By invitation, Volta addressed the Institute of France in a series of lectures at which Napoleon Bonaparte was present as a member (see Figure 4). Napoleon helped with the experiments, drawing sparks from the battery, melting a steel wire, discharging an electric pistol and decomposing water into its elements. After Galvani’s successful experiments and the discovery of the voltaic cell, interest in galvanic electricity became widespread. Sir Humphry Davy (1778–1829), inventor of the miner’s safety lamp, made new discoveries when he installed the largest and most powerful electric battery into the vaults of the Royal Institution.

He connected the battery to charcoal electrodes and produced the first electric light. Witnesses reported that his voltaic arc lamp produced “the most brilliant ascending arch of light ever seen.” Davy began to test the chemical effects of electricity in 1800 and soon found that by passing electrical current through some substances, decomposition occurred, a process later called electrolysis. The generated voltage was directly related to the reactivity of the electrolyte with the metal. Davy understood that the actions of electrolysis and the voltaic cell were the same. In 1802, Dr William Cruickshank designed the first electric battery capable of being mass produced. Cruickshank arranged square sheets of copper with equal sheet sizes of zinc. These sheets were 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, resembling the flooded battery that is still with us today (see Figure 5). Rechargeable Battery In 1836 John F. Daniell, an English chemist, developed an improved battery that produced a steadier current than Volta’s device.

Until then, all batteries were primary, meaning that they could not be recharged. In 1859, the French physician Gaston Planté invented the first rechargeable battery. It was based on lead and acid, a system that is still used today. In 1899, Waldmar Jungner from Sweden invented the nickel-cadmium battery (NiCd), which used nickel for the positive electrode and cadmium for the negative. Two years later, Thomas Edison produced an alternative design by replacing cadmium with iron. High material costs compared to dry cells or lead acid systems limited the practical applications of the nickel-cadmium and nickel-iron batteries. It was not before Shlecht and Ackermann achieved major improvements by inventing the sintered pole plate in 1932 that NiCd gained new attention [sintering is the process of fusing nickel powder at a temperature well below its melting point using high pressures]. This resulted in higher load currents and improved longevity. The breakthrough came in 1947 when Neumann succeeded in completely sealing the nickel-cadmium cell. In the 1980s and 1990s, the attention was on nickel-based chemistries.

Concerned about environmental contamination if NiCd was carelessly disposed, some European countries began restricting this chemistry and asked the industry to switch to nickel metal hydride (NiMH). Many say that the NiMH is an interim step to lithium-ion (Li-ion) and this may well be true. Much of the research focuses on improving lithium-ion batteries. Besides powering cellular phones, laptops, digital cameras, tools and medical devices, Li-ion is also a candidate for vehicles. Li-ion has a number of benefits including a higher energy density, is easier to charge and does not have maintenance issues unlike nickel-based batteries. Nor does Li-ion suffer from sulfation that is common with lead-based systems. Electricity through Magnetism Electricity through magnetism, an alternative method of generating electricity besides static charge and battery, came relatively late. In 1820, André-Marie Ampère (1775-1836) noticed that wires carrying an electric current were at times attracted 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 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 and then the electric motor. Shortly thereafter, transformers were developed that could convert alternating current (ac) to any desired voltage. In 1833, Faraday established the foundation of electrochemistry by publishing his laws of electrolysis. Once the relationship with magnetism was discovered in the mid 1800s, large generators began producing a steady flow of electricity. Motors followed that enabled mechanical movement and the Edison light bulb appeared to conquer darkness. The three-phase ac technology developed by Nikola Tesla (1857-1943) enabled transmission lines to carry electric power over great distances. Electricity was thus made available to humanity to improve overall quality of life. The invention of the electronic vacuum tube in the early 1900s was the significant next step toward high technology, enabling the development of 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 to the integrated circuit 10 years later. The microprocessor ushered in the Information Age and revolutionized the way we live today. Humanity depends on electricity, and with increased mobility, people are moving more and more toward portable power storage — first for wheeled applications, then portability and finally wearable use. As awkward and unreliable as the early batteries may have been, future generations may look at today’s technologies as nothing more than clumsy experiments. 1600 William Gilbert (UK) Establishment of electrochemistry study 1791 Luigi Galvani (Italy) Discovery of “animal electricity” 1800 Alessandro Volta (Italy) Invention of the voltaic cell (zinc and copper disks) 1802 William Cruickshank (UK) First electric battery capable of mass production 1820 André Marie Ampère (France) Electricity through magnetism 1833 Michael Faraday (UK) Announcement of Faraday’s laws 1836 John F.

Daniell (UK) Invention of the Daniell cell 1839 William Robert Grove (UK) Invention of fuel cell (H2/O2) 1859 Gaston Planté (France) Invention of the lead-acid battery 1868 Geroge Leclanché (France) Invention of the Leclanché cell (carbon-zinc) 1899 Weldmar Jungner (Sweden) Invention of the nickel-cadmium battery 1901 Thomas A, Edison (USA) Invention of the nickel-iron battery 1932 Shlecht and Ackermann Invention of the sintered pole plate 1947 Neumann (France) Successfully sealing the nickel-cadmium battery 1949 Lew Uir, Eveready Battery (USA) Invention alkaline-manganese battery 1970s Group effort Development of valve regulated lead-acid battery 1990 Group effort Commercialization of nickel-metal hydride battery 1991 Sony (Japan) Commercialization of lithium-ion battery 1996 Moli Energy (Canada) Introduction of Li-ion with manganese cathode 2005 Val

ence, A123 System (USA) Introduction of Li-ion with phosphate cathode Illustrations from Cadex Electronics Inc.

Isidor Buchmann is the founder and CEO of Cadex Electronics Inc, a Canadian company specializing in the design and manufacture of advanced battery testing instruments. He has studied the behavior of rechargeable batteries in practical, everyday applications for two decades. As an award-winning author of many articles and books on the subject, Mr Buchmann has delivered battery-related technical papers around the world. You can find more battery information at Cadex’s battery university . Isidor can be contacted at 22000 Fraserwood Way, Richmond, BC V6W 1J6, Canada. Super Scientists - Luigi Galvani Luigi Galvani (1737-1798) Galvani was born, educated and taught anatomy in Bologna. The Italian physiologist made one of the early discoveries that advanced the study of electricity. His work with frogs led to his discovery in 1781 of galvanic or voltaic electricity. Galvani found he could make the muscles of a dead frog twitch when he touched them with different metals or the current from a nearby static electric generator. But he incorrectly thought fluid in the frog's body was the source of the electricity.

This discovery soon led to another by Allesandro Volta, who invented the electric cell or early battery. By 1800, Volta proved that the source of the electricity was a reaction caused by the animal's body fluids being touched by two different types of metal. More about Luigi Galvani:

Question: Who invented the electric battery in 1800?
Answer: Alessandro Volta