'Voltaic pile' definitions:

Definition of 'voltaic pile'

From: WordNet
noun
Battery consisting of voltaic cells arranged in series; the earliest electric battery devised by Volta [syn: voltaic pile, pile, galvanic pile]

Definition of 'Voltaic pile'

From: GCIDE
  • Voltaic \Vol*ta"ic\, a. [Cf. F. volta["i]que, It. voltaico.] [1913 Webster]
  • 1. Of or pertaining to Alessandro Volta, who first devised apparatus for developing electric currents by chemical action, and established this branch of electric science; discovered by Volta; as, voltaic electricity. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. Of or pertaining to voltaism, or voltaic electricity; as, voltaic induction; the voltaic arc. [1913 Webster]
  • Note: See the Note under Galvanism. [1913 Webster]
  • Voltaic arc, a luminous arc, of intense brilliancy, formed between carbon points as electrodes by the passage of a powerful voltaic current.
  • Voltaic battery, an apparatus variously constructed, consisting of a series of plates or pieces of dissimilar metals, as copper and zinc, arranged in pairs, and subjected to the action of a saline or acid solution, by which a current of electricity is generated whenever the two poles, or ends of the series, are connected by a conductor; a galvanic battery. See Battery, 4. (b), and Note.
  • Voltaic circuit. See under Circuit.
  • Voltaic couple or Voltaic element, a single pair of the connected plates of a battery.
  • Voltaic electricity. See the Note under Electricity.
  • Voltaic pile, a kind of voltaic battery consisting of alternate disks of dissimilar metals, separated by moistened cloth or paper. See 5th Pile.
  • Voltaic protection of metals, the protection of a metal exposed to the corrosive action of sea water, saline or acid liquids, or the like, by associating it with a metal which is positive to it, as when iron is galvanized, or coated with zinc. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'voltaic pile'

From: GCIDE
  • Pile \Pile\, n. [F. pile, L. pila a pillar, a pier or mole of stone. Cf. Pillar.]
  • 1. A mass of things heaped together; a heap; as, a pile of stones; a pile of wood. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. A mass formed in layers; as, a pile of shot. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. A funeral pile; a pyre. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. A large building, or mass of buildings. [1913 Webster]
  • The pile o'erlooked the town and drew the fight. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
  • 5. (Iron Manuf.) Same as Fagot, n., 2. [1913 Webster]
  • 6. (Elec.) A vertical series of alternate disks of two dissimilar metals, as copper and zinc, laid up with disks of cloth or paper moistened with acid water between them, for producing a current of electricity; -- commonly called Volta's pile, voltaic pile, or galvanic pile. [1913 Webster]
  • Note: The term is sometimes applied to other forms of apparatus designed to produce a current of electricity, or as synonymous with battery; as, for instance, to an apparatus for generating a current of electricity by the action of heat, usually called a thermopile. [1913 Webster]
  • 7. [F. pile pile, an engraved die, L. pila a pillar.] The reverse of a coin. See Reverse. [1913 Webster]
  • Cross and pile. See under Cross.
  • Dry pile. See under Dry. [1913 Webster]