(* 18th february 1745; + 5th march 1827) was a physicist known especially for the development of the first electric cell in 1800. Early life and works Volta was born in Como, Italy and visited the public schools. In 1774 he became a professor of physics at the Royal School in Como. A year later, he improved and popularized the electrophorus, a device that produces a static electric charge. His promotion of it was so extensive that he is often credited with its invention.
From1776 to 1777 Volta studied the chemistry of gases and discovered methane by collecting the gas from marshes. 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. In 1779 Volta became professor of experimental physics at the University of Pavia, a chair he occupied for almost 25 years. In 1794, he married Teresa Peregrini. Together they had three sons: Giovanni, Zannino, and Flaminio Volta and Galvani Volta began to study, around 1791, the "animal electricity" noted by Luigi Galvani 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 (now commonly known as electrolyte) and as a detector of electricity. He replaced the frog's leg by brine-soaked paper, and detected the flow of electricity by other means familiar to him from his previous studies. That way he discovered the electrochemical series, and the law that the electromotive force of a galvanic cell, consisting of a pair of metal electrodes separated by electrolyte, is the difference between their two electrode potentials.[citation needed] That is, if the electrodes have emfs , then the net emf is . (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, he invented the voltaic pile, an early electric battery, which produced a steady electric current. Volta had found out that the most effective pair of dissimilar metals to produce electricity were zinc and silver. First Battery In announcing his discovery of the pile, Volta paid tribute to the influences of William Nicholson, Tiberius Cavallo and Abraham Bennet. An additional invention pioneered by Volta, was the remotely operated pistol. He made use of a Leyden jar to send an electric current from Como to Milan, which in turn, set off the pistol. The current was sent along a wire that was insulated from the ground by wooden boards. This invention was a significant forerunner of the idea of the telegraph which also makes use of a current to communicate. Voltaic battery The Voltaic battery is credited as the first electrochemical cell. It consists of two electrodes: one made of zinc, the other of copper. The electrolyte is sulphuric acid or a brine mixture of salt and water. The electrolyte exists in the form 2H+ and SO42-. The zinc, which is higher than both copper and hydrogen in the electrochemical series, reacts with the negatively charged sulphate. ( SO42- ) The positively charged hydrogen bubbles start depositing around the copper and take away some of its electrons. This makes the zinc rod the negative electrode and the copper rod the positive electrode. We now have two terminals, and the current will flow if we connect them. The reactions in this cell are as follows: zinc Zn → Zn2+ + 2e- sulfuric acid 2H+ + 2e- → H2 The copper does not react, functioning as an electrode for the reaction. However, this cell also has some disadvantages. It is unsafe to handle, as sulfuric acid, is dangerous. The power of the cell diminishes over time because the hydrogen gas is not released, accumulating instead on the surface of the electrode and forming a barrier between the metal and the electrolyte solution. The primitive cell is widely used in schools to demonstrate the laws of electricity and is known as the Lemon battery. Last years and retirement In honor of his work, Volta was made a count by Napoleon in 1810. Volta retired in 1819 in his estate in Camnago, a frazione of Como now called Camnago Volta after him, where he died on March 5, 1827. Volta's legacy is celebrated by a Temple on the shore of Lake Como in the centre of the town. A museum in Como, the Voltian Temple, has been built in his honor and exhibits some of the original equipment he used to conduct experiments. Near Lake Como stands the Villa Olmo, which houses the Voltian Foundation, an organization which promotes scientific activities. Volta carried out his experimental studies and made his first inventions in Como. Source: Wikipedia