Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta (February 18, 1745 – March 7, 1827) was an Italian[1][2] physicistknown for the invention of the battery in the 1800s.
| Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta | |
| Born |
18 February 1745
Como, Duchy of Milan
present-day Italy
|
|---|---|
| Died |
5 March 1827 (aged 82)
Como, Lombardy-Venetia
present-day Italy
|
| Nationality | Italian |
| Fields | Physics and chemistry |
| Known for |
Invention of the electric cell
Discovery of methane
Volt
Voltage
|
| Notable awards | Copley Medal (1794) |
Early life and works
Volta was born in Como, a town in present-day northern Italy (near the Swiss border) on February 18, 1745. In 1794, Volta married an aristocratic lady also from Como, Teresa Peregrini, with whom he raised three sons: Giovanni, Flaminio and Zanino. His own father Filippo Volta was of noble lineage. His mother Donna Maddalena came from the family of the Inzaghis.[3]
In 1774, he became a professor of physics at the Royal School in Como. A year later, he improved and popularized theelectrophorus, a device that produced static electricity. His promotion of it was so extensive that he is often credited with its invention, even though a machine operating on the same principle was described in 1762 by the Swedish experimenter Johan Wilcke.[4][5] In 1777, he travelled through Switzerland. There he befriended H. B. de Saussure.
In the years between 1776–78, Volta studied the chemistry of gases. He researched and discovered methane after reading a paper by Benjamin Franklin of United States on "flammable air". In November 1776, he found methane at Lake Maggiore,[6] and by 1778 he managed to isolate methane.[7] He devised experiments such as the ignition of methane by an electric spark in a closed vessel. Volta also studied what we now call electrical capacitance, developing separate means to study both electrical potential (V ) and charge (Q ), and discovering that for a given object, they are proportional. This may be called Volta's Law of capacitance, and it was for this work the unit of electrical potential has been named the volt.
In 1779 he became a professor of experimental physics at the University of Pavia, a chair that he occupied for almost 40 years.[8]
Volta and Galvani
Luigi Galvani discovered something he named "animal electricity" when two different metals were connected in series with the frog's leg and to one another. Volta realized that the frog's leg served as both a conductor of electricity (what we would now call an electrolyte) and as a detector of electricity. He replaced the frog's leg with brine-soaked paper, and detected the flow of electricity by other means familiar to him from his previous studies.
In this way he discovered the electrochemical series, and the law that the electromotive force (emf) of a galvanic cell, consisting of a pair of metal electrodes separated by electrolyte, is the difference between their two electrode potentials (thus, two identical electrodes and a common electrolyte give zero net emf). This may be called Volta's Law of the electrochemical series.
In 1800 as the result of a professional disagreement over the galvanic response advocated by Galvani, Volta invented thevoltaic pile, an early electric battery, which produced a steady electric current.[9] Volta had determined that the most effective pair of dissimilar metals to produce electricity was zinc and silver. Initially he experimented with individual cells in series, each cell being a wine goblet filled with brine into which the two dissimilar electrodes were dipped. The voltaic pile replaced the goblets with cardboard soaked in brine.
First battery
In announcing his discovery of his voltaic pile, Volta paid tribute to the influences of William Nicholson, Tiberius Cavallo, and Abraham Bennet.[10]
The battery made by Volta is credited as the first electrochemical cell. It consists of two electrodes: one made ofzinc, the other of copper. The electrolyte is either sulfuric acid mixed with water or a form of saltwater brine. The electrolyte exists in the form 2H+ and SO42−. The zinc, which is higher than both copper and hydrogen in theelectrochemical series, reacts with the negatively charged sulfate (SO42−). The positively charged hydrogen ions (protons) capture electrons from the copper, forming bubbles of hydrogen gas, H2. This makes the zinc rod the negative electrode and the copper rod the positive electrode.
Thus, there are two terminals, and an electric current will flow if they are connected. The chemical reactions in this voltaic cell are as follows:
- zinc
- Zn → Zn2+ + 2e−
- sulfuric acid
- 2H+ + 2e− → H2
The copper does not react, but rather it functions as an electrode for the electric current.
However, this cell also has some disadvantages. It is unsafe to handle, since sulfuric acid, even if diluted, can be hazardous. Also, the power of the cell diminishes over time because the hydrogen gas is not released. Instead, it accumulates on the surface of the zinc electrode and forms a barrier between the metal and the electrolyte solution.
Last years and retirement
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In honor of his work, Volta was made a count by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1810.[1] His image was depicted on theItalian 10,000 lira note (no longer in circulation, since the euro has replaced the lira) along with a sketch of his voltaic pile.
Volta retired in 1819 to his estate in Camnago, a frazione of Como, Italy, now named "Camnago Volta" in his honor. He died there on March 5, 1827.[11] Volta's remains were buried in Camnago Volta.[12]
Volta's legacy is celebrated by the Tempio Voltiano memorial located in the public gardens by the lake. There is also a museum which has been built in his honor, which exhibits some of the equipment that Volta used to conduct experiments. Nearby stands the Villa Olmo, which houses the Voltian Foundation, an organization promoting scientific activities. Volta carried out his experimental studies and produced his first inventions near Como.
Religious beliefs
Volta was raised as a Catholic and for all of his life continued to maintain his belief.[13] Because he was not ordained a clergyman, like his family expected, he was sometimes accused of being irreligious and some people have speculated about his possible unbelief, stressing that "he did not join the Church",[14] or that he virtually "ignored the church's call".[15] Nevertheless, he cast out doubts in a declaration of faith in which he said:
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