Volta, Alessandro, 70 Voltaic pile

Of special interest is the bipolar electrode design, anticipated already by Alessandro Volta in his voltaic pile. There are several pronounced advantages [478] ... 

Luigi Galvani (1791) was the first to discover the physiological action of electricity. He demonstrated the existence of bioelectric forces in animal tissue. His experiments led Alessandro Volta to the invention of the first battery, voltaic pile [8]. In 1800, Alessandro Volta described the voltaic pile in a letter to the Royal Society in London [7]. The original voltaic cell used two metal disks as electrodes, namely zinc and silver. Cardboard disks separated the electrodes and seawater was the electrolyte. A current was produced when the silver disk was connected to the zinc disk through an external wire. The voltaic pile established the foundation for the liquid battery type. Many other metals and electrolytes have been tried during the last two centuries [9]. 

Alessandro Volta 1745-1827), Italian physicist, was the inventor of the first battery, the so-called voltaic pile (shown on the right). It consisted of alternating disks of copper and zinc separated by disks of cardboard soaked with salt solution. In honor of his many contributions to electrical science, the unit of potential difference, the volt, is named for Volta. In fact, in modern usage we often call the quantity the voltage instead of potential difference. 

The nineteenth century was an exciting time for electrical experimentation and discovery. Shortly after Alessandro Volta demonstrated the voltaic pile to the Royal Society of London in 1800, two experimenters, William Nicholson and Sir Anthony Carlisle, discovered that hydrogen and oxygen could be produced by passing an electric current through water. This was the first demonstration of the principle of electrolysis. 

Alessandro Volta, Italian physicist, discovered why the frog s leg twitched. He built the first battery (voltaic pile) of stacked Ag-Zn plates separated by paper or cloth soaked in saltwater. 

Until the late 1700s static electricity was the only known form of electricity. Alessandro Volta, born in Como, Italy, is best known for discovering current electricity and for developing the voltaic pile, which became an invaluable tool in electrochemistry. 

Hybrid vehicles, flashlights, and your laptop computer would not have been possible if not for an Italian physicist named Alessandro Volta. A professor at the Royal School in Como, Lombardy (Italy), Volta was interested in electricity and had studied the effects of dissimilar metals and electron flow. His studies led to the creation of the world s first battery, the voltaic pile (Figure 13-13). Volta placed alternating discs of zinc and copper in a wine goblet and then filled the goblet with saltwater. In 1801, Volta demonstrated his voltaic pile to Napoleon. Today we use the term volt to describe the pressure of electrons in a pathway. 

The battery invented by Alessandro Volta (1745-1827) in 1799 consisted of layers of Zn and Ag separated by cardboard soaked in brine. This voltaic pile on display at the Royal Institution in London was given by Volta to Humphry Davy and Michael Faraday when they visited Italy in 1814. Using electrolysis, Davy was the first to isolate Na, K, Mg, Ca, Sr, and Ba. Faraday used piles to discover laws of electricity and magnetism. 

The voltaic pile invented by Alessandro Volta in 1799 is made of many repeating layers that could have the following structure ... 

Count Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta (1745-1827). ItaUan physicist. Volta showed that animal tissue was not necessary for the conduction of electricity, as had been hypothesized by Galvani. He invented the first electric (or voltaic) pile—a prototype battery consisting of alternating discs of dissimilar metals (for example, copper and zinc) separated by cardboard soaked in saltwater. 

The modem battery, or voltaic pile, began with the work of Alessandro Volta in 1800. During the nineteenth century, a number of other scientists investigated electricity and electrical properties. Many of the internationally accepted units of electrical measurement were named in their honor. 

The first modem battery was described in 1800 by Alessandro Volta, a professor at the University of Pavia in Italy. His stacked zinc-silver cells, moistened with an electrolyte solution, became known as a voltaic pile. 

Voltaic pile/electric battery (Alessandro Volta) Volta creates a pile—a stack of alternating copper and zinc disks separated by brine-soaked felt—that supplies a continuous current and sets the stage for the modern electric battery. 

Nicholson, William (1753-1815) English chemist who showed that water could be broken down into hydrogen and oxygen by inserting two wires into it that were connected to an electric battery. This was the first demonstration of electrolysis. Nicholson, who had had the benefit of publishing his own scientific journal, was able to report some findings with the voltaic pile even before Alessandro Volta. 

The first silver-zinc (Ag-Zn) cell, the voltaic pile, was constructed by Professor Alessandro Volta in Como, Italy, in about 1796. The Volta pile consists of alternate layers of silver and zinc sheets immersed in a salt-containing electrolyte. It was quickly adopted as a source of electricity... 

The science of electrochemistry is concerned with electron transfer at the solution/elec-trode interface. Most of the basic principles and relationships, however, were described prior to the discovery of the electron by J. J. Thompson in 1893. In 1800, Alessandro Volta invented the first battery, then known as a voltaic pile, by alternating stacks of copper and zinc disks separated by paper soaked in acid solutions. With the discovery of a sustainable source of electrical current, the stage was set for the rapid development of the area of science now known as electrochemistry. By 1835, Michael Faraday had already defined the anode, cathode, electrode, electrolyte, and ion concepts without which any definitive description of electrochemistry is virtually impossible. 

The first battery was invented by Alessandro Volta about 1800. He assembled a pile consisting of pairs of zinc and silver disks separated by paper disks soaked in salt water. With a tall pile, he could detect a weak electric shock when he touched the two ends of the pile. Later Volta showed that any two different metals could be used to make such a voltaic pile (Figure 20.1). 

In 1800, Italian physicist Alessandro Volta introduced his voltaic pile, better known as the battery. The stack of alternating zinc and silver disks provided scientists with a source of electric current for the first time. 

Davy did not stay a pneumatic chemist very long. In 1800, just before the young Davy arrived in London, Alessandro Volta announced his construction of the first chemical battery (a voltaic pile ) capable of producing a sustained and predictable current. As soon as word of this battery came to Davy, he built one and—you guessed it—immediately tested it by administering a series of shocks on himself Immediately, Davy realized that his future lay in electrochemistry, not pneumatic chemistry. 

It comes as logical consequence of what has been said in the previous section and in Table 13.2 that if the different metals are put in the same solution they originate a bimetallic galvanic cell or voltaic pile from the names of the Italian philosopher, physicist and physician Luigi Galvani who first discover it in 1780 and the Italian philosopher and physicist Alessandro Volta who farther investigate it in 1800 and... 

Alessandro Volta the first battery of alternating discs of zinc and copper, with pieces of cardboard soaked in brine between the metals this voltaic pile produced an electrical current... 

In addition, this review has been prepared to promote the term voltaic cell in honor of Alessandro Volta, the inventor of the pile, i.e., an electrochemical generator of electricity. Up to now this name has been used in only a few papers. This term is a logical analogue to the term galvanic cell, particularly in discussions of Volta potential and Gal-vani potential concepts. 

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