Alessandro Volta

Alessandro Volta was a physicist, chemist and a pioneer of electrical science.

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He:

• Invented in 1800 the first electrical battery – which people called the “voltaic pile.” With this invention, scientists could produce steady flows of electric current, unleashing a wave of new discoveries and technologies.

• Was the first person to isolate methane.

• Discovered methane mixed with air could be exploded using an electric spark.

• Discovered “contact electricity” resulting from contact between different metals.

• Recognized two types of electric conduction.

• Wrote the first electromotive series. This showed, from highest to lowest, the voltages that metals produce in a voltaic pile. (We now talk of standard electrode potentials, meaning roughly the same thing.)

• Discovered that electric potential in a capacitor is directly proportional to electric charge.

In recognition of Alessandro Volta’s contributions to electrical science, the unit of electric potential is called the volt.

Early Life and Education
Alessandro Volta was born in Como, Lombardy, Italy, on February 18, 1745. His family was part of the nobility, but not wealthy. Until the age of four, he showed no signs of talking, and his family feared he was not very intelligent or possibly dumb. Fortunately, their fears were misplaced.

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Source: http://www.famousscientists.org/alessandro-volta/