Galvani's Theory Of Animal Electricity example essay topic

Dot Point: "h Identify data sources, gather, process and analyze secondary information about differing views of Volta and Galvani about animal and chemical electricity, and discuss whether their different views contributed to increased understanding of electricity. Research Topic! V Outline the debate between Galvani and Volta concerning the nature of electricity. To learn of the controversy between Luigi Galvani and Alessandro Volta we must first know some background information. Galvani was the lecturer of anatomy and surgery at Bologna. He was mainly interested in animal senses and then he deeply focused on the actions of the nervous system.

Volta on the other hand was more interested in the physics and chemical end of science focusing mainly on electricity. It was because of a discovery that the two started their debate. Galvani's wife had prepared some frogs legs for a meal one evening. They were hung on brass hooks and were also touching an iron railing below. Galvani noticed that every time an electrical machine nearby sparked, the muscles in the frog's legs would contract, causing the leg to kick. Galvani inferred that it must be animal electricity and that the two metals complete the circuit.

In 1791, he published a dramatic paper stating that electricity or! SSanimal electricity!" flows through living organisms and that he had proven it. He sent this to Europe's top scientists. After his initial enthusiasm, Volta becomes opposed to Galvani's statement. Volta undertakes some experiments of his own and just two years after Galvani's statement, Volta released a statement of his own.

He said that Galvani had discovered! SS contact!" or! SS metallic!" electricity. Volta said that when two dissimilar metals came into contact, they would produce a small amount of electricity and that the salt ions in the body of the frog had merely acted as a conductor. This sparked the great debate and split the scientific world in two. The physiologists and anatomists tended to support Galvani's theory of animal electricity while the physicists and chemists tended to support Volta's theory of bi-metallic contacts.

Volta continued to experiment with all different kinds of metals and he used moist cardboard instead of frogs legs. This proved it was not the nerves of the frogs. In 1794 Volta was awarded the Society Copley Medal, one of the most sought after awards, the equivalent of the Nobel Peace Prize today. Galvani released one more report giving greater evidence to his theory of animal electricity but it was quickly dismissed. All this rejection came as a slap in the face to Galvani and he ended up going to live in poverty with his brother.

It was there in 1798 that Galvani died a broken man. Volta however, continued his research. He discovered that not only would two dissimilar metals in contact produce a small electrical effect, but metals in contact with certain types of matter would also produce such effects. In fact, the best results were obtained when different metals were held in contact and joined by a moist third body! V it completed the circuit between them. It was these observations that led to the construction of the battery in 1800 or!

SSvoltanic pile!" as it was then called. Diagrams of the first! SSvoltanic pile!" For his great contribution to science Volta was brought before Napolean in 1801 where gave a series of lectures on his discoveries. A special gold medal was struck to honour the occasion. While only in his 50's, after the construction of the! SSvoltanic pile!" , he took no more part in applying his discoveries to the numerous new fields that were opened up.

He spent the next chapter of his life as Director of Philosophy at the University of Pavia. He retired to his family home in 1819 and died in 1827. After examining the facts, there clearly is no doubt that the differing views of Volta and Galvani contributed to an increased understanding of electricity. If Volta had believed in! SSanimal electricity!" then there would have been no one to pursue other options of why the frog's leg acted the way it did. Perhaps someone later on may have but that would have set us back a few years.

Also the fact that both their views were so completely different helped. It became sort of a competition between the two, each trying to prove the other wrong. This is the reason why both of them performed such in depth research. Each time one of them made a discovery, it made the other strive harder to make one of their own.

Even though Galvani wasn! |t entirely correct in his views towards the! SSanimal electricity!" ; if it wasn! |t for him the battery may never have been developed.