History
The theory held that static electricity was generated by means of contact between dissimilar materials, and was in close agreement with the principles of static electricity as then understood. It was eventually replaced by the current theory of electrochemistry, namely, that electricity is generated by the action of chemistry and the exchange of electrons between atoms making up the battery. An important fact leading to the rejection of the theory of contact tension was the observation that corrosion, that is, the chemical degradation of the battery, seemed unavoidable with its use, and that the more electricity was drawn from the battery, the faster the corrosion proceeded.
In fact, the Volta effect does correspond to a weak electric potential difference developed by the contact of different metals. Nowadays, this is often known as a contact potential difference. This effect was first discovered by Alessandro Volta, and can be measured using a capacitance electroscope comprising different metals. However, this effect does not, by itself, account for the action of electric batteries.
A number of high voltage dry piles were invented between the early 19th century and the 1830s in an attempt to determine the answer to this question, and specifically to support Volta’s hypothesis of contact tension. The Oxford Electric Bell is one example.
Read more about this topic: Contact Electrification
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“What would we not give for some great poem to read now, which would be in harmony with the scenery,—for if men read aright, methinks they would never read anything but poems. No history nor philosophy can supply their place.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“They are a sort of post-house,where the Fates
Change horses, making history change its tune,
Then spur away o’er empires and o’er states,
Leaving at last not much besides chronology,
Excepting the post-obits of theology.”
—George Gordon Noel Byron (1788–1824)
“History is more or less bunk. It’s tradition. We don’t want tradition. We want to live in the present and the only history that is worth a tinker’s damn is the history we make today.”
—Henry Ford (1863–1947)