Car Battery History

 

The history of the modern day battery and electrochemistry as we know it practically starts with an Italian physician and anatomist Luigi Galvani. In 1791 Galvani wrote an essay titled "Commentary on the Effect of Electricity on Muscular Motion" proposing a "nerveo-electrical substance" in life forms. Galvani's theory was that animal tissue contained a previously unknown force, which when placed between two metal probes would activate the muscles. He was famous for performing this experiment on the leg of a dead frog. Touching the frog's leg tissue with the two metal probes produced movement of the frog's leg muscle. Galvani called this "animal electricity".

 

All were convinced of Galvani's theory except for a brilliant professor of physics at the university of Pavia, Alessandro Volta, a surname that may sound familiar in electrical talk. Volta took Galvani to task over the true nature of the power that moved the frog's leg. He concluded that the true source of the power was the connection of two dissimilar metals. He referred to his theory as "metallic electricity".

 

It wasn't until 1800 that Volta created the first modern battery known as the Voltaic Pile. The Voltaic pile is frighteningly similar to the basic construction of the modern car battery we all use today. It uses pairs of copper and zinc plates which are piled on top of each other, similar to the design of cells in your car battery. It also separated the plates with cloth or cardboard which was soaked in brine, similar to the electrolyte used in your car battery. Volta's Voltaic Pile never produced much energy, not even enough to make a spark but it did spark the beginning of the modern car battery as we know it today.