Battery History
Battery History
Although Alessandro Volta in Italy is usually credited with being the inventor of the modern battery (Silver-Zinc), ancient cells have been discovered in Sumerian ruins, origin around 250 BC.
The first evidence of batteries comes from archaeological digs in Baghdad, Iraq.
This first "battery" was dated to around 250 B.C. and may have been used in simple operations to electroplate objects with a thin layer of metal, much like the process used now to plate inexpensive gold and silver jewelry. Possibly one of the first uses for batteries, although there is some dispute among scholars. Wikipedia entry for Baghdad Battery.
Batteries were re-discovered much later by Alessandro Volta after which the unit of electrical potential was named, the volt. The jar was found in Khujut Rabu just outside Baghdad and is composed of a clay jar with a stopper made of asphalt.
Sticking through the asphalt is an iron rod surrounded by a copper cylinder. When filled with vinegar - or any other electrolytic solution - the jar produces about 1.1 volts.
