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How did Alessandro Volta build the first operable battery around 1800?

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Cross-section diagram of an alkaline-manganese dioxide battery showing labeled internal components, including the steel-plated covers, cathode, anode gel, current collector, separator, steel can, and brass rivet. — battery Cutaway view of an alkaline–manganese dioxide power cell.

Alessandro Volta developed the first electric battery, known as the voltaic pile, around 1800 by building upon his rejection of the theory of "animal electricity" proposed by Luigi Galvani.12

Volta hypothesized that electricity was generated by the contact of two different metals through a moist medium rather than by biological tissue. To prove this, he constructed a device consisting of alternating disks of two different metals—typically zinc and silver (or copper and pewter)—separated by paper or cloth soaked in salt water or sodium hydroxide.12

When the top and bottom metal disks were connected with a wire, electricity flowed continuously. This invention provided the first reliable source of steady electric current that did not require recharging, unlike the Leyden jar. His work effectively settled the scientific controversy of the time and laid the foundation for the field of electrochemistry.12