Tom,
I am always amazed at how elaborate these discussions can get. Volta was
well acquainted with the Pauli exclusion principle? In truth I am learning
more about how batteries work from this discussion which is why I enjoy
this group.
Your original first question was what was Volta's reasoning where if one
cell gives one current then two or more cells give proportionately larger
currents. If he is using a constant load (R = constant), then this is of
course true. Remember that Volta's work was before a common knowledge of
Ohm's Law, or even the definitions of voltage and current in the modern
sense. There were no voltmeters or ammeters, but he reasons that if one
cell gives you a certain amount of something then two in series should give
you twice that amount.
From a modern view point, his piles are particularly problematic as they
suffer from a high and variable internal resistance. He was aware that if
you could stack enough cells together in a pile you could duplicate the
effects of electrostatics. The chemist also learned that you could use the
pile to cause chemical reactions, and when plating copper the rate at which
copper is deposited was the first quantitative estimate of the current in
the modern sense.
Even as late as the 1840's Joseph Henry constructed his large
electromagnets out of the coils wound to give the strongest field (most
lift) from a single battery and then connected these coils in series to
correspond to the number of battery cells in series. He had a much improved
battery - the Daniell cell, which had a lower and fairly constant internal
resistance then Volta's pile.
Gary
Gary Karshner
St. Mary's University
San Antonio, Texas
KARSHNER@STMARYTX.EDU