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Meanwhile, Livigi Galvain (1737-1798) had obseved that a frogs leg hanging on a brass hook twitched when he touched it with a scalpel. He thought they had their own electricity and called it "animal electricity".
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Alessandro Volta was born in the year 1745 in Como that is in North of Italy. He lived with his parents called Filippo and Maddalena.
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Volta didnt talk until he was 4 years old. By the time he turned 14, he decided to become a physicist. In 1769, he began to study electricity and published 2 books of his ideas.
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In 1774, Volta was appointed diretor of the Royal School of Como. The following year he became professer of phisics.
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In 1776, while visiting local swamps, Volta obseved a "mystery gas" known as "swamp gas", witch was used to light gas lanterns. Volta was the first person to isolate methane from "swamp gas".
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Volta became well known in scientific circles and in 1779 he was appointed Professor of Physics at university of Piva, a position he held for 25 years.
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In 1792, Volta suggested that Galvani's work was incorrect and the 2 men disagreed.
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By 1797, Volta thought that the frogs leg twitched because the solvtion in the leg made a connection between the 2 metals. He demonstrated this using a coin and some foil and placed it on the tongue.
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Lvigi Galvani still believed about "animal electricity". Until this year he stopped believeing "animal electricity".
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This led Volta to develop his "voltanic pile", the first electric battery in 1800. Volta demonstraited that the combination of different metals and sovtions could produce an electric current.
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In 1818, Volta retired to his family home in Como.
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Volta died in 1827. The term "volt" is based on his name.