The tools
In addition to the battery, Volta designed innovative electrical instruments and conducted important studies on gases. Con il suo metodo sperimentale rigoroso, contribuì a definire la figura moderna dello scienziato.
With this instrument, Volta experimentally measured the expansion of air, demonstrating the proportionality between volume and temperature and anticipating fundamental formulations of gas physics.
Gas physics
With the eudiometer, Volta studies the combustion of gases and the composition of air. His experiments anticipate the synthesis of water, which will be recognised shortly afterwards by Lavoisier.
Gas physics
With the flammable air lamp, Volta experiments with controlled and silent gas combustion, anticipating practical applications of flammable air beyond the purely experimental sphere.
Experimental applications, Gas physics
With his electro-pneumatic gun, Volta demonstrated the electrical ignition of flammable gases, anticipating remote signal transmission and modern engine ignition systems.
Experimental applications, Gas physics
The cup-stack battery is a variation of Volta’s battery that uses a series of glasses connected by metal arches, highlighting the role of metals and liquids in the production of continuous electricity.
Power generation
With the Voltaic pile, he created a generator of continuous electricity based on the orderly repetition of metal discs and wet conductors, ushering in a new era in the study of electricity.
Power generation
With the electrometric balance, Volta introduced a precise method for measuring electrical force, anticipating results that would only be fully recognised in the following century.
Electrometry
From the condenser to the capacitance electrometer, Volta developed instruments capable of accumulating and making visible very weak charges, paving the way for the study of contact electricity and the battery.
Contact electricity, Electrometry
With the electrophorus, Volta introduced a new way of generating electricity by induction. Simple and effective, the instrument made electrical phenomena reproducible and paved the way for modern electrical machines.
Contact electricity
