Third Grade Physics
Among the types of applied science, it is applied physics that is really geared towards practical uses. It doesn't just study the aspects of the science, but its main goal often involves trying to produce new technologies for everyday or common use as well as scientific uses. There are many branches of applied physics, some of which are directly related to biology and chemistry.
The study of electricity is part of the studies of applied physics. There are many debates as to who really discovered electricity first. It is probably safest to say that many people discovered different forms of electricity or different phenomena related to electricity at different times throughout the history of science. Static electricity may have been discovered first, being noticed by Greek scholars as an effect or rubbing wool and amber together, and the amber later on attracting certain objects. This phenomenon was also noted by William Gilbert who conducted studies on electricity and its involvement with magnets.
More famous discoveries of electricity include Benjamin Franklin's kite experiment (though scientists have now concurred that Franklin could not have been holding the kite physically or the lightning bolt would have killed him) and Luigi Galvani's production of an electric current in animals.
There were other scientists who studied electricity along the way, but none so as important as Alessandro Volta who is often noted as the first man to have harnessed electricity for use.
Alessandro Volta's Electricity
The development of the first battery or the prototype for it is credited to Alessandro Volta. He originally began his scientific research as a chemist who studied methane gas and its reactions or combustibility. It is believed that these later studies are linked to him becoming the first to discover that certain chemical reactions can produce electricity. With this discovery, he began his studies on physics and electricity.
Volta is credited as the scientist who developed the electrophorus, which is a device that is able to produce a static electric charge. Later on, while studying the work of Luigi Galvani, he realized that the electric current Galvani discovered was caused by the contact of two dissimilar metals (Galvani had used copper and zinc in his experiments.)
With his realization, Volta went on to experiment how to produce a steady electrical current using dissimilar metals. He piled plates of copper and zinc divided by paper soaked in brine, creating the first electrochemical cell. He proved that the metals were oppositely charged. In this manner he was able to produce a steady electric current and developed the first electrochemical series, and the first electrical transmission. The metals he piled together, now known as the voltaic pile became the first form of a battery. Through various experiments, Volta discovered that the best metals to produce electricity in this manner are zinc and silver.
Because of his pioneering work, the unit for measuring electricity was named after Volta. Every unit of electricity is known as a volt. The study of electricity did not end with Volta. Future scientists later developed batteries and other ways to transmit electricity, as well as built gadgets that rely on electricity like light bulbs.
Next Article: Third Grade Life Science
