Science - June Holiday Project 2012 Introduction of a scientist which made an impact in the area electricity Pair work by:

is an Italian Physicist Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta He was born on the 18 th February In 1745 He was appointed as professor of physics at the Royal School in Camo In 1774 He improved and popularized the electrophorus In 1775 He taught in the University of Pavia for 25 years. In 1779 He invented the voltaic pile while teaching in University of Pavia In 1800 He was made a count by Napoleon in honour of his work. In 1801 He retired. In 1819 He passed away on the 5th March. In 1827 He was the scientist who invented the electric battery.

 When Volta studied the chemistry of gases. He discovered methane after reading a paper by Benjamin Franklin on "flammable air" and carefully searched for it in Italy. Discovered Methane Found Methane and studied its properties Isolated Methane He found methane at Lake Maggiore He managed to isolate Methane and devised experiments such as the ignition of methane by an electric spark in a closed vessel.

Studied Electrical Capacitance Developed a theory Volta’s Law of Capacitance  Volta developed separate means to study both electrical potential (V) and charge (Q)  He discovered that for a given object, both the electrical potential and charge are proportional. He came up with the Volta’s Law of Capacitance AKA Rule of Proportion The unit of electrical potential, the volt, is named after him.

Another Great Contribution of The Century!  His work on the voltaic pile began with a study on the “animal electricity” noted by Luigi Galvani.  due to a disagreement over the galvanic response, he began working on the voltaic pile.. A voltaic pile is a set of individual Galvanic cells placed in series. The pile uses stacked pairs of alternating copper (or silver) and zinc discs (electrodes) separated by cloth or cardboard soaked in brine (electrolyte) to increase the conductivity. When the top and bottom contacts are connected, an electric current flows through the pile and the connecting wire. This provided a steady electric current flow.

Alessandro Volta made a significant contribution toward the area of electricity, which made many electrical appliances possible to work today. So how did such a noble man like him inspire us? ?

Galvani’s finding Inquisitive nature Electro- chemical series * Luigi Galvani discovered something he dubbed "animal electricity" when two different metals were connected in series with the frog's leg and to one another. * Because of his inquisitive nature, he found that when metals and chemicals come into contact with each other, they can produce electricity. * He then discovered the electrochemical series and the Volta’s Law of the electrochemical series.

Disagreement with Galvani’s response Determination The Invention of Voltaic piles The professional disagreement over the galvanic response advocated by Galvani lead to the invention of voltaic pile. This is because he believed in his own hypothesis, which was that the most effective pair of dissimilar metals to produce electricity was zinc and silver. Hence, he was determined to prove his theory right. After his many experiments, he invented the voltaic pile which produces a steady electric current. Because of his perseverance and effort, his theory prevailed Galvani’s.

How did he inspire us from the above two cases? Because of his inquisitive nature, perseverance and determination, it has lead him to a great invention and many great discoveries. It also brought him many honours and respect. This inspires us as it shows that if we possess these values like how he possessed them, we can also be as successful as he is. We hope we can have his positive attitude towards negative comments and learn to look things in a different point of view from others and that might also lead us to surprising discoveries.

We have learnt how the invention of electric battery came about and the process that Alessandro Volta went through to prove his theory right. Through the demonstration of how his voltaic pile works, we also learnt that brine (salt solution) can also be used to increase the conductivity of the electrolyte. The unit Volt was also named under his honour. We have also understood how the way voltaic piles work through this assignment. Through this assignment, we have different views on how to show the information in a clearer way and could not decide which scientist to choose for this assignment. However, we managed to overcome them by listening to each others’ suggestions first before making the final decision. We also communicated with each other politely and discussed what is going to be written in this assignment. We also did things systematically to prevent confusion in the task, which made us being efficient in our work. All we need is co-operation,patience and be understanding, which we did display throughout this assignment.