Transcript Alessandro Volta and his discovery of the Battery

Jaclyn Mouras, Brianna Griffin, Amanda
Bloom, and Billy McGuire
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Human kind has been fascinated by electricity
since lightning was first witnessed
• 1938 - a jar was found in Iraq that could have been the
first battery (It was over 2000 years old)
• 1650 - Otto von Guericke experimented with electricity
• 1729 - Stephen Gray discovered electrical conductivity
• 1752 - Benjamin Franklin studied properties of
electricity
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These discoveries led up to Alessandro Giuseppe
Antonio Anastasio Volta’s invention of the
battery
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Luigi Galvani held the theory of animal electricity
He observed twitching in dismembered frog legs
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Volta was skeptical of Galvani’s belief
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Volta later disproved the animal electricity theory
by inventing the battery in 1800
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• While hanging a specimen from a brass hook, Galvani
touched a steel scalpel to a nerve & saw it move
• Galvani believed that when nerve and muscle touch two
dissimilar metals in contact with each other, a contraction
of a muscle occurs
• He thought the fluid in the body was the source of
electricity
• He didn’t think the current could be generated within the
frog’s leg, rather he believed the frog was just a conductor
o In 1794, Volta began his
work on the battery by
experimenting with various
metals & electrolytes
o The first battery consisted
of a series of alternating
copper and zinc rings in an
electrolyte
o Glass rods surrounded &
supported the metal discs
• The strength of the
charged depended on the
number of rods
o This became known as the
Voltaic Pile
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Volta presented his invention as a mechanism
capable of continually holding an electrical
charge
In Paris in 1801, Volta demonstrated his
invention to prominent French scientists &
Napoleon
Napoleon was so impressed that he gave
Volta a gold medal, a pension, and
appointments as a cavalier, senator & count
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Shortly after Volta
publicized his work,
many variations
followed the Voltaic
Pile
Some include:
• The Crow’s Foot battery
• Telegraph batteries
• Gaston Plante’s Lead
Acid Battery
TOP LEFT: Crow’s
Foot Battery
TOP RIGHT: Gordon
Primary Telegraph
Battery
BOTTOM LEFT: Lead
Acid Battery
Battery Charger
Phone Battery
9 Volt
Camera
Battery
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Volta’s invention is so imperative that it’s still in use
today
Modern batteries are much smaller & though
improvements have been made, the science behind
them is still the same
Batteries are used in the medical field, in appliances
around the house, while driving cars & elsewhere
Scientists, chemists & inventors are still working to
advance the battery
Thanks to Alessandro Volta’s discoveries & invention
our world is better off