Batteries 2 Essay Research Paper The invention

Batteries 2 Essay, Research Paper The invention of batteries was considered a great discovery by affecting our lives. Has it affected our lives for good or for bad, since the discovery of batteries in around 1800? Before the time of invention a number of discoveries had previously been made. Floriano Caldani (1756) observed that frog legs could be made to contract when a near-by static machine was discharged. Luigi Galvani (1786) rediscovered this phenomenon and apparently unaware of similar work by Jan Swammerdam more than a century earlier (1678), noted that a contraction occurred without external electrical force, when two different metals were placed into the muscles of a dead frog. The physicist Alessandro Volta (1792) discovered the difference in potential of metals in

contact with electrolyte and developed the concept of the electromotive series. By 1800 Volta had perfected and described the first operating battery or pile which functions continuously, its charge being renewed after each discharge; it possesses in fine an inexhaustible charge. Since this time a lot of changes have occurred within the technology of batteries throughout the world. Batteries have opened many doorways towards the future and better living. The improvement through the technology of batteries is apparent. People are now using batteries to help them live longer, hear better and move faster. Without the discovery of batteries the world of today would be completely different to what we know it as. Cars are a prime example of the technology of batteries affecting them.

Cars used to run with the use of steam engines. The steam run cars could not move off instantly because of the time required to boil the water for the car to start producing steam. Technological advancements introduced the magneto, a magnetic rotor with the introduction of combustion engines. The magneto was introduced to provide the car with enough energy distributed to the spark plugs for ignition. This gave people the hassle of having to turn a rotor anytime they wanted to travel somewhere. Another advancement was made with the discovery that a 12-volt lead storage battery could provide enough energy to the spark plugs for ignition. Without the discovery of the battery the use of cars could not have been harnessed and the luxury of travelling long distances in a relatively

short time. When minerals were needed for mining miners would have to tunnel down into the ground to mine the minerals needed. Before the invention of batteries, the use of candles and lit torches to light the tunnels were very important. The problem with flame is the fact that veins of natural gas could be accidentally tapped into causing a huge explosion if it was to come in contact with the flame. Leading up to the invention of battery powered torches many different ideas were thought of and trialed. One of those ideas concluded with the Davy Safety Lamp being made. This lamp was a state of the art lamp, which would go out when it was in a low oxygen region and glow brightly when approaching methane gas. Lead storage batteries are now strapped to the back of the miners backs

with torches strapped to their heads. The lives of the miners have mainly been affected with this technological advancement. Cardiac pace-makers have only been around for about 10 years. Within this time they have acquired many changes. When first constructed and put into use it was found the battery would run out and an operation would be made to take the pace-maker out and replace the battery. Research was done into the use of small, longer lasting batteries. This produced the findings of the Lithium cell. This cell is not only small but can long outlast the previous Zinc/Mercury batteries. Had the discovery of the battery not have been made, many people of today would now be deceased if not earlier. Hearing aids would not have been able without the use of batteries. Hearing