Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta, and His Contribution To Modern Electrical Understanding - Report Example

ALESSANDRO GIUSEPPE ANTONIO ANASTASIO VOLTA, AND HIS CONTRIBUTION TO MODERN ELECTRICAL UNDERSTANDING Background Volta is a famous figure in history due to his several inventions in physics. He is best known for his invention of the battery in the 1800. He is actually considered among the top ten scientists who shaped the modern day science (Top 10 influential scientists 6th June 2011). The unit used to measure electric potential difference (voltage) was named after him i.e. Volt. He performed the first voltaic pile experiment that led to the development of electric batteries that are used today. He was an Italian who lived in the 19th century. He also made several other discoveries like the methane gas. He was a professor of physics in the University of Pavia. A brief history of his social life has been summarized below: Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Gerolamo Umberto Volta was born on 18th February 1745 and died on 5th march 1827. During his early life, he was considered retarded by his parents since he could not talk until he was 4 years of age. He married Teresa Peregrini who bore him three sons, Giovanni, Flaminio and Zanino. In terms of religion, he was a roman catholic who strongly defended Christianity against scientism. In his early college years, he proved to be exceptionally brilliant and intelligent to his lecturers. His contribution to electrostatics Volta started to gain interest in electrostatics in the early 1760’s. The gurus in this branch of physics were Nollet and Beccaria. Volta used to communicate to them whenever he had suggestions, interesting experiments and consultations. They encouraged Volta to do experiments to get a better understanding of his studies. In 1965, Volta discovered that silk when rubbed on hand gained a positive charge while rubbing on glass made it negatively charged. He later designed a machine that proved the electrical properties of silk. To mark this development in electrostatics, he wrote a dissertation in 1769 that explained the unique principle of electrostatics. This force was later quantified by Charles Augustine Coulomb. The measure of electrostatic force is coulombs. Further studies show that the electrostatic force between any two bodies is dependent on the nature of the charges on both the bodies, the distance between them and the permittivity constant. Coulomb developed the following formula for measuring electrostatic force: F = (4ΠЄ0)-1*Q1Q2/R2 Where Є0 is the permittivity constant, Q1Q2 are the consecutive charges of the two bodies and R is the straight path connecting the two bodies (electrostatic forces 11th November 2011). The forces act on a straight line between the two bodies. When the two bodies occur to be positively charged or negatively charged, a repulsive force occurs between them. If their charges are different, then the force between them will be attractive in nature. The permittivity constant Є0 is equivalent to 8.854 * 10-12 coulomb2/newton-meter2. The charge should be expressed in coulombs. Further studies proved the modern electrostatic version that all matter consists of atom that have equivalent number of electrons and protons. These two have two different charges i.e. positive and negative charges simultaneously. They exhibit equal but opposite charges of 1.602 * 10-19 Coulombs. The atoms have a positive centre nucleus that has electrons around it. Rubbing the electrons is what causes imbalance of the atom charge thus, making it exhibit a positive charge (rubbed electrons) or a negative charge (gained electrons). We can conclude that Volta formed a major milestone in the development of the theories behind the understanding of electrostatic forces and their experimentation. The electric battery Volta’s main legacy was in theinvention of the electric battery. At first, he began with the frog experiment. In this experiment, he touched both ends of a frog with a copper and zinc wire. This caused some contraction in the muscles of the frog. The reason for this he called electric fluid. He then did an experiment with a pile of discs (copper and zinc) separating them with a piece of paper that was soaked with brine (salty water). He noticed that one side produced electrons (negative electrical energy) while the other was positive. In modern day science, he made the electrodes and dipped them in an electrolyte that caused the separation of the ions and anions. A series of these silver and zinc disks produced high electric power. This created an EMF electronic moving force. The measure of the potential difference between the two metals was actually named after him, Volt. In his battery experiment, The Voltaic Pile, the main idea generated was that chemical reaction of the metals and the electrolyte (fluid used i.e. brine) could cause separation of ions thus creation of an EMF. This force creates a potential difference between the two electrodes (metal bars/plates). In other terms, electrical power is generated that could flow through a circuit. However, as the current flows, the battery gets exhausted and needs recharging. Other scientists invented more variations to the discovery like, Daniel Cell 1836, Fuel Cell 1839, Rechargeable cell 1859, Leclanche Carbon-Zinc Cell 1866 and many others till today’s most commonly used cell lead-acid and Lithium-Ion. He also invented a remotely operated pistol. He used a Leyden jar to transmit an electric current over a long distance which then set off the pistol. This was later advanced to telegrams that came to apply the idea of electric signals. The mathematics of voltage, resistance and current According to Hepburn C. (electrical cells and batteries 2011), electric batteries have an EMF that obeys OHMs law. He explains how the potential difference between the two polls of a cell is measured in relation to the EMF generated and the resistances. It states that the amount of current flowing through a conductor is directly proportional to the p.d (potential difference between the two conductors). The general mathematical equation derived is: I = V/R where I is the current, V is the voltage and R is the resistance. And V =I/R In an electric battery, there are two resistances; internal resistance IR and the external resistance R. To measure the total EMF of the battery, we consider both the resistances i.e. EMF =I/(IR+R) example 1) In this diagram, the EMF denoted R is; 6.0/2.0 = 3 Amperes. Note that є represents the voltage. Example2) Suppose an electric circuit has a total resistance of 12 Ω and a current of 3 amperes. What is the voltage of the battery? Applying the OHMs law, we use V =I/(IR+R) Solution: EMF = 3A/12Ω =0.25 VOLTS. This electrical battery will apply the activity series in chemistry. It follows that any metal will offer electrons to any other one that is below it in the activity series. This bases the choice of metals in the battery formation. Further studies about the battery and its variables required computation of major variables like potential difference, total EMF and current. This brings the application of technical mathematics in to this area. For potential difference, the studies show that electrons will use energy to separate from the protons. When they separate, a potential charge between the two poles is achieved. A circuit connected in series will have an additive potential difference (Henderson T. 2011 the physics classroom). For example: Example3) For diagram A above, V =120-80 =40Volts. For b above, V =12-(4+3) =5 Volts. Example4) In an electric circuit, suppose the battery produces 60 volts and there are resistors in series i.e. 17ohm, 12ohm and 11ohm. Calculate the total electric current flowing through the current? Solution: Total resistance (assuming internal resistance is zero) =17OHM +12OHM +11OHM =40OHMs. According to OHMs law, the total current, I is given by; I =V/R I =60V/40Ω =1.5 amp. References Henderson T. 2011 the physics classroom: circuit connections. Archive. Web. http://www.physicsclassroom.com/ Hepburn C. 2011. Electrical cells and batteries. Archive. Web. http://www.splung.com/ Electrostatic forces. Archive. 11th November 2011. Web [pdf]. http://groups.physics.northwestern.edu/lab/DOWNLOAD/electrostatics.pdf Top 10 influential scientists. Archive. Web. 6th June 2011. http://top-10-list.org/ Read More