Physicist — Alessandro Volta (Como, 1745 – Como, 1827) was an Italian physicist, one of the founders of modern electrology. Professor at the University of Pavia, he studied electrical phenomena for a long time, inventing instruments such as the perpetual electrophorus. His most famous contribution is the voltaic pile (1800), the first device capable of producing a continuous electric current, obtained by stacking discs of different metals separated by cloths soaked in a saline solution. This invention, born from the controversy with Luigi Galvani over the origin of ‘animal’ electricity, transformed the study of electricity from a static phenomenon into the science of currents, paving the way for electrochemistry and electromagnetism. In his honour, the unit of measurement of electric voltage is called the volt.
Trivia
In 1801 Volta presented the pile to Napoleon Bonaparte, who was so impressed that he awarded him a gold medal and the title of count; his portrait and the pile appeared until a few years ago on old Italian 10,000-lira banknotes.
Theories and contributions
- Voltaic pile — First source of direct current, formed by pairs of different metals separated by electrolyte; generates a constant electromotive force.
- Volta’s law of contact tensions — Contact between two different conductors establishes a potential difference characteristic of the materials.
Present in chapters
Linked atoms
1 linked atom.