Voltaic Pile Creating Electric Arc, 19th Century
An electric arc or arc discharge is an electrical breakdown of a gas that produces an ongoing electrical discharge. The current through a normally non-conductive medium such as air produces a plasma; the plasma may produce visible light. An arc discharge is characterized by a lower voltage than a glow discharge, and it relies on thermionic emission of electrons from the electrodes supporting the arc. An archaic term is voltaic arc, as used in the phrase "voltaic arc lamp". The voltaic pile was the first electrical battery that could continuously provide an electric current to a circuit. Volta stacked several pairs of alternating copper (or silver) and zinc discs (electrodes) separated by cloth or cardboard soaked in brine (electrolyte) to increase the electrolyte conductivity. When the top and bottom contacts were connected by a wire, an electric current flowed through the voltaic pile and the connecting wire.
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