Voltaic pile
![Schematic diagram of a copper–zinc voltaic pile. The copper and zinc discs were separated by cardboard or felt spacers soaked in salt water (the electrolyte). Volta's original piles contained an additional zinc disk at the bottom, and an additional copper disk at the top. These were later shown to be unnecessary.](/Images/godic/202501/14/Voltaic_pile.svg0930.png")
![A voltaic pile on display in the Tempio Voltiano (the Volta Temple) near Volta's home in Como.](/Images/godic/202501/14/VoltaBattery0930.JPG")
![](/Images/godic/202501/14/Galvanic_Cell.svg0930.png")
The voltaic pile was the first electrical battery that could continuously provide an electrical current to a circuit. It was invented by Alessandro Volta, who published his experiments in 1800. The voltaic pile then enabled a rapid series of discoveries including the electrical decomposition (electrolysis) of water into oxygen and hydrogen by William Nicholson and Anthony Carlisle (1800) and the discovery or isolation of the chemical elements sodium (1807), potassium (1807), calcium (1808), boron (1808), barium (1808), strontium (1808), and magnesium (1808) by Humphry Davy.