BIOGRAPHY

Alessandro Volta, man and scientist

5. Volta in Pavia
In November 1778, Count Firmian, by now entirely convinced of the scientific worth of the scientist from Como, appointed him Professor of Particular Physics at the University of Pavia.

Pavia University

At this period, Volta’s most important studies were on the condenser. They led to his producing an extremely sensitive measuring instrument, capable of revealing the presence of very weak electrical charge, the condensing electroscope. In the course of this research, Volta also correctly figured out the concepts of electrical quantity (Q), capacity (C) and tension (T), and managed to formulate the basic relationship in the condenser, Q = C x T.
During the years 1786-92, he dealt with meteorological electricity, studying the physico-chemical properties of aeriform substances. He even determined the law of uniform expansion of air, ten years before Gay-Lussac.

Volta's drawing of the electrometric condenser