The first electrical storage device, the Leyden Jar was invented by Ewald Georg von Kleist of Pomerania (now a part of Germany) in 1745 and independently by Pieter van Musschenbroek of the University of Leyden, Holland in 1746. This device, actually a capacitor, allowed scientists to store static electrical charges and transport them to different locations. The actual explanation of how it worked was provided by Benjamin Franklin in 1747. A voltaic pile, the first battery, was invented about 1800 by Alessandro Volta used the interactions of dissimilar to generate an electrical. Volta’s original voltaic pile used zinc and silver disks and a separator consisting of a porous nonconducting material saturated with sea water (salt water). Over the next 60 years, different combinations of metals and electrolytes were used to make variations of the voltaic pile and were the only practical source of electricity during that time. The first “chemical” battery was developed in the 1860’s by George Leclanché of France. His original version was a wet cell with the electrodes immersed in a pool of electrolyte. Because it was rugged, easy to manufacture, and had a good shelf life, the battery became popular. Later, it was improved by incorporating the electrolyte into a wet paste. As a result, the cell was produced as a sealed unit with no free liquid electrolyte. This battery was the forerunner of the carbon-zinc dry cell, still in use today, along with its related alkaline batteries. Such batteries are called primary batteries
In 1859 Raymond Gaston Planté invented the lead-acid battery. Using two thin lead plates separated by rubber sheets immersed in a dilute sulfuric acid solution, he was able to store a small electrical charge. This was improved about 1881 when Emile Alphonse Faure developed a process for covering both sides of a lead plate with a paste of lead powder and sulfuric acid producing a storage battery with a high capacity. Since that time, there have been continuous improvements in both materials and manufacturing processes of the lead acid storage battery. This type of battery, know as a secondary battery, is the type used in most automobiles.
Generally, the commercial batteries available today, each produce 1.5 volts of energy. By attaching batteries in series, voltages of 6, 9 and 12 volts are achieved. In this experiment, you will be constructing a number of cells or batteries, measuring their output, and evaluating their usefulness.
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