18th Century Pioneer

Alessandro Volta (1745 – 1827).  Italy.

An Italian physicist – the electrical unit called the Volt was named after him.

Volta’s friend Lugi Galvani  discovered that two different metals that came in contact with the muscles of a frog caused an electric current.  Volta experimented and determined that the metals alone caused the current. In 1800 he developed a forerunner of the electric battery, it was called a voltaic pile. He  took discs of zinc and copper, placing them alternately between felt discs that were saturated with vinegar to create his battery.

He also devised an instrument called the “Electrophorous” that produced charges of static electricity.  Volta was highly regarded and rewarded for his development of the battery by Napoleon.

More about the Volt .…

Abbreviated (V); also as the unit of electrical pressure (E); also as electromotive force (emf); also as potential difference.