Alessandro Volta

A brief history of Alessandro Volta…

Alessandro Volta was born in Como, Italy in 1745. In 1774, he was appointed as a professor of physics at the Royal School in Como. For years at Como, he studied and experimented with atmospheric electricity by igniting static sparks. In 1779, Alessandro Volta was appointed professor of physics at the University of Pavia and it was while there that he invented his most famous invention, the voltaic pile...

One of the most remarkable and novel discoveries in the last 400 years was electricity….

So what did Alex Volta exactly do? …….

He invented the first electrical batteries!!

(Voltaic Pile)

The first electrical batteries

looks like this…. →

How? What? • Alessandro Volta invented the Voltaic Pile(the first electric battery) and

discovered the first practical method of generating electricity. • He discovered in 1800 that certain fluids would generate a continuous

flow of electrical power when used as a conductor. This discovery led to the invention of the first voltaic cell, more commonly known as the battery. Volta discovered further that the voltage would increase when voltaic cells were stacked on top of each other.

• The Voltaic Pile is constructed of alternating discs of zinc and copper with pieces of cardboard soaked in brine between the metals, the Voltic Pile produced electrical current.

• The metallic conducting arc was used to carry the electricity over a greater distance. Alessandro Volta's voltaic pile was the first "wet cell battery" that produced a reliable, steady current of electricity.

• However, the Voltaic Pile could not deliver an electrical current for a long period of time.

Alessandro Volta has definitely made an impact on the area of electricity.

Without him, we probablywon’t have such things like mobile phones, which uses batteries.

We were inspired by his perseverance towards researching science, like how he found the way to isolate methane gas(another one of his discoveries). We admire him for his curious and open mind to accept new things, and to investigate more about things around him. Without him, we may not be able to enjoy the luxury of having a portable electrical supply(batteries).

“I personally would like to have an open mind and perseverance like Alessandro Volta. I want to able to keep an open mind to new things, like him. Without his perseverance in studying and experimenting with atmospheric electricity, we wouldn’t have batteries today. And for that, I admire and am grateful to him, ” -Trudy

“ I admire Alessandro Volta for being responsible as he was a professor at the university for 25 years. Also, he shows family importance as he was married with 3 sons. I am inspired by how he persevered to find the way to isolate methane gas. Lastly, from him I’ve learnt that the first battery was invented by him, consisting of two electrode, which are copper and zinc.” -Miao Ting

Reflection…

• We have learnt more about the history of batteries and about new things that we never knew existed, through this project. For example, we were clueless about the Voltaic Pile at first and we didn’t know there was such a name. We have definitely more knowledgeable on this topic now!

• We understand more about batteries and its currents.

• And we are definitely more knowledgeable about Alessandro Volta!

Reflection…

• We found it very hard to arrange a timing for both of us to meet during the June holidays as we were both busy with our CCAs, and going for holidays with each of our families.

• When we finally found the time to meet up, both of us ended up getting distracted instead and we ended up doing nothing for the science project.

Reflection…• Luckily, we managed to find the time to do the

project online instead of meeting up to do it together as we know that we would end up getting distracted again.

So, that was how we managed to overcome the problem that we faced doing this assignment together…

CREDITS• Google

• Google Images• Wikipedia