Alessandro
Volta made one of the greatest electrical discoveries of all time in 1796. He
was able to produce continuous electric current for the first time, through his
voltaic pile. Basically, it was the first electric battery and the first source
of direct current (DC).
Alessandro
Volta was born on February 18, 1745 in the Italian City of Como, then a part of
the Austrian Empire. At the age of 18, he was already performing electrical
experiments with well-known European electrical investigators.
 |
| Alessandro Volta and the Voltaic Pile |
In 1872,
he became professor of Physics at the University of Padua, where he became
involved in controversy with another electrical pioneer, Luigi Galvani, whose
experiments led him to believe that electricity was in the muscles or nerves of
animals. Volta on the other hand, maintained that current electricity was
metallic electricity.
Voltaic
Pile – First Battery
Alessandro
Volta made a stack of zinc and copper disks, with a paper disk soaked in a salt
acid solution in between them. He built up a high stack alternating the zinc,
paper and the copper disks. This is the voltaic pile,
which was self-charging. The discharges could be repeated again and again, through a wire connecting the bottom zinc disk to the top copper disk. Volta believed that the contact between unlike metals, via the conducting water
produced electricity.
This
great invention by Volta revolutionized the use of electricity and gave the
world one of its greatest benefits, the electric current.
Honors
Alessandro
Volta was showered with accolades during his lifetime. Napoleon made him senator
and later a count in the French Empire. After Napoleon’s defeat, the Austrians
allowed Volta to return to his Italian estate as a citizen in good stead. Volta
was rewarded 54 years after his death, when the unit of electromotive force (electric
potential or voltage) was officially named “Volt” in his honor.
No comments:
Post a Comment