Alexander Volta and the First Essay

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It was used by Michael Faraday in the 1800s in his experiments on electromagnetism. Other inventors improved on the battery's original design and these improvements produced telegraphs and doorbells. Napoleon Bonaparte was so impressed with the invention that he recommended honors for Volta, including making him a count in 1810 (CIRL, Rubin, Scratch, Corrosion Doctors).

From this first and crude battery evolved electrochemistry, electromagnetism, and modern applications of electricity (CIRL, 2011; Rubin, 2011; Scratch, 2011; Corrosion Doctors, 2011). Even the defeated principles of Galvani on animal electricity served as the initiative to the development of electrophysiology and modern biology. From Volta's name came the unit of electromotive force, called volt, while from Galvani's name was coined the galvanometer, the instrument for detecting and measuring small electric currents (CIRL, Rubin, Scratch, Corrosion Doctors).

Significance and Influence during the Industrial Revolution

It is when power is cut off that ancient means of illumination, such as candles, gas and oil lamps, get more appreciated (Lewis, 2005). These crude means were the main sources of lighting up to the late Victorian era. It took more than a century before he light bulb was invented in 1879 because of an intervening invention, which made up for the shortage or lack of illumination. This invention by Count Volta, developed in 1800, which was central to the understanding and control of that then-strange battery fluid. A milestone in human experience and for the first time, two dissimilar metals together can produce electricity in a conducting and corrosive liquid. Connecting a rod of copper and iron in an external circuit will produce electricity. When connected in a pile, large voltages can be produced. Sir Humprey Davy discovered in 1802 that placing two carbon electrodes a short distance apart would make a continuous spark jump across the gap and produce light. But this requires a high voltage to push the rods steadily into the arc as the carbon is progressively used. Davy applied the pile of batteries to decompose molten compounds and, in the process, discovered new elements including calcium and magnesium.

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He constructed the first electric light, using Volta's pile, in 1820 (Scratch, 2011). His attention was, however, focused on methane gas explosions, which killed many miners in his time (Lewis).

It is now known how a batter functions. It converts chemical energy in its active material directly into electrical energy through an electrochemical oxidation-reduction reaction (Waara, 2011). Electrons move from one material to another through an internal circuit. This process was revealed by the basic principles of primary and secondary batteries from the work of Alessandro Volta. Today, the lead batter is an integral part of every car with various other applications. Volta's invention and very valuable contribution is more than 2 centuries old. Yet it has remained unbeatable as an available power source. Approximately 75% of the world's lead production and $30 billion accrue to these batteries (Waara).

In review, the first 40 years from the monumental 1800s when Volta invented the first batter also became the turning point in the development of practical engineering (HBCI, 2010). Dynamos and electric motors are following the trend historically set by Volta's creation. Many more are forthcoming (HBCI). #

BIBLIOGRAPHY

CIRL. Alexander Volta Center for Integrating Research & Learning: National High

Magnetic Field Laboratory, 2011. Retrieved on February 21, 2011 from http://www.magnet.fsu.edu/education/tutorials/prioneers/volta.html

Corrosion Doctors. Alexander Volta. Corrosion Doctors.com, 2011. Retrieved on February 21, 2011 from http://www.corrosion.doctors.org/Biographies/VoltaBio.htm

HBCI. Nature Obeys Rules, Too. Hiawatha Broadband Communications, Inc.: Hayden

Publishing Company, Inc., 2010. Retrieved on February 23, 2011 from http://www.hbci.com/~wenonh/history/edpart1.htm

Lewis, Peter. Lighting the Industrial Revolution. BBC: Business Enquiries, 2005.

Retrieved on February 22, 2011 from http://www.open2.net/historyandhearts/discover_science/lighting_p.html

Rubin, Julian. The Invention of the Votaic Pile. Retrieved on February 21, 2011 from http://www.juliantrubin.com/bigten/voltapile.html

Scratch, Lydia S. Volta, Alessandro. Chemistry Explained: Advameg, Inc., 2011.

Retrieved on February 21, 2011 from http://www.chemistryexplained.com/Va-Z/Volta-Alessandro.html

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