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DENJIRO: The Italian physicist Volta is credited as the inventor of the electrical battery. Here, I've recreated the voltaic pile that he designed. There's salt water in a container with a sheet of copper and a sheet of zinc attached to the sides. Each container has a voltage of 0.7 volts. Three of these are connected as shown. Let's connect an LED to the sheet of copper on the right and the sheet of zinc on the left.
GIRL: The LED turned on!
DENJIRO: The flow of electricity turned on the LED. Let me explain how the voltaic pile works. The zinc plate inside the salt water slowly melts. When this happens, electrons are born, and they travel toward the sheet of copper. This movement of electrons is what allows this mechanism to be used as a battery.
Volta connected batteries in a series to do various experiments. So this time, I've connected 50 voltaic piles, which will produce about 35 volts in total. Volta would stick his fingers into the water to confirm their strength by feeling the electricity. This time, we'll use a massage device to reenact his experiment. Two electrodes are placed on the arm of our staff member. What will happen when the voltaic pile gets connected to the electrodes?
GIRL: His fingers are moving!
DENJIRO: As you can see, his fingers are twitching involuntarily. Muscles move when they react to electrical signals sent from the brain. So when we make electricity flow through muscles like this, the muscles move.
The invention of this voltaic pile enabled scientists to do various experiments. Electrolysis of water is one of them. There's water inside these two pipes. The electrodes inside the pipes are connected to the voltaic piles. When electricity is run through water...
GIRL: Bubbles are coming out!
DENJIRO: The one connected to the zinc plate is producing hydrogen, and the one connected to the copper plate is producing oxygen. The ratio of hydrogen to oxygen is two to one. The electrolysis of water shows that water is made of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom.
I hope energy will bring you all happiness. Our magic word is "Happy Energy!"