THE INVENTORY OF THE BATTERY

Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta, born February 18, 1745, is an Italian physicist and chemist of Russian origin. Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta is a pioneer of electricity and power. His most important invention is the electric battery. He gave his name to the unit of voltage, the Volt.

His family was a noble family, but they were not wealthy. After his father's death, he was home-schooled by his uncle until the age of 12. Thanks to his talent for foreign languages, he learned Latin, German, French and English easily, and this ability enabled him to communicate easily with other scientists in the following years. Volta began his career in physics and taught physics at the Royal School of Como in 1774. In addition to lecturing, Volta conducted experiments in the fields of electricity, electrochemistry, and electromagnetism. In the years that followed, Volta invented a machine called Electrophore that could generate an unlimited amount of electrostatic charge, consisting of a metal plate to which a mixture of hardened resin was placed. Although this invention did not make much noise in the scientific world, it made his name begin to be heard.

 

Electrophore

Volta, who began conducting chemistry experiments in 1776, isolated methane gas. He discovered that a methane-air mixture could explode with an electric spark in a sealed container. This discovery of an electrically initiated chemical reaction would form the basis of internal combustion engines for years to come.

In 1778 he found that the electrical potential in a capacitor is directly proportional to its electric charge. Thanks to his successful work in the following years, Volta was elected to the Royal Society of Great Britain.

By 1800, Volta developed his groundbreaking invention, the electric battery. In 1800 he reported the results of his experiments in a two-part letter to the President of the Royal Society. With this invention, Volta proved that electricity can be produced chemically. Volta's invention sparked a great deal of scientific excitement and eventually led to the development of the field of electrochemistry.

Italian physicist Luigi Galvani came up with the animal theory of electricity after his experiments. He observed that when two different metals were touched to the legs of a dead frog, the legs moved, and suggested that the animal had internal electricity. However, Volta stated that only two different metals such as copper and zinc and a liquid would be sufficient to generate electricity. He disproved the widespread theory that electricity is produced only by living things. He placed pieces of leather dipped in salt water between the metals and obtained an electric current.

 electric battery

Unlike machines that generate static electricity, the electric battery produced a relatively weak but constant electromotive force and a continuous electric current. This device inspired many scientists who came after it and formed the basis of many electrical ideas and inventions.

After his invention was made public, Volta gained instant fame and was rewarded by Napoleon Bonaparte for his work in the following years. In addition, the Austrian Emperor made Volta head of the philosophy faculty of the University of Padua in 1815.

Volta's reputation earned him a lot of money, and he lived to a high standard for the rest of his life. He lived in great luxury until his death in Como in 1827 at the age of 82.

In honor of Alessandro Volta's contributions to science, the unit of electric potential was named the "volt".