Editing Voltaic pile (section)

== Electrochemistry ==

Because Volta believed that the electromotive force occurred at the contact between the two metals, Volta's piles had a different design than the modern design illustrated on this page. His piles had one extra disc of copper at the top, in contact with the zinc, and one extra disc of zinc at the bottom, in contact with the copper.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Cecchini|first1=R.|last2=Pelosi|first2=G.|title=Alessandro Volta and his battery|journal=IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine|date=April 1992|volume=34|issue=2|pages=30–37|doi=10.1109/74.134307|bibcode=1992IAPM...34...30C|s2cid=6515671}}</ref> Expanding on Volta's work and the electro-magnetism work of his mentor [[Humphry Davy]], [[Michael Faraday]] utilized both magnets and the voltaic pile in his experiments with electricity. Faraday believed that all "electricities" being studied at the time (voltaic, magnetic, thermal, and animal) were one and the same. His work to prove this theory led him to propose two laws of electrochemistry which stood in direct conflict with the current scientific beliefs of the day as laid down by Volta thirty years earlier.<ref>{{cite book |last1=James |first1=Frank A. J. L. |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/electrochemistry0000unse_m6a2/page/32/mode/2up|title=Electrochemistry, past and present |date=1989 |publisher=American Chemical Society |isbn=9780841215726 |editor1-last=Stock |editor1-first=J. T. |location=Washington, DC |pages=32–49 |chapter=Michael Faraday's first law of electrochemistry: how context develops new knowledge |editor2-last=Orna |editor2-first=M. V. |chapter-format=}}</ref> Because of their contributions to the understanding of this field of study, Faraday and Volta are both considered to be among the fathers of [[electrochemistry]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Stock |first1=John T. |title=Electrochemistry, past and present |date=1989 |publisher=American Chemical Society |isbn=9780841215726 |editor1-last=Orna |editor1-first=Mary Virginia |location=Washington, DC |pages=1–17 |chapter=Electrochemistry in retrospect: an overview |chapter-format=}}</ref> The words "electrode" and "electrolyte", used above to describe Volta's work, are due to Faraday.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=James|first1=F.A.J.L.|title=The Royal Institution of Great Britain: 200 years of scientific discovery and communication|journal=Interdisciplinary Science Reviews|date=18 July 2013|volume=24|issue=3|pages=225–231|doi=10.1179/030801899678777}}</ref>