Vol-tā'ic, a.
a. [Fr. voltaïque, It. voltaico.]
Sense 1. Of, pertaining to, originated by, or named in honor of, Volta, who first devised apparatus for developing electric currents by chemical action, and established this branch of electric science; as, voltaic electricity.
Sense 2. Pertaining to voltaism, or voltaic electricity; as, voltaic induction; the voltaic arch.
Voltaic arch, a luminous arch, 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.—Voltaic couple or element, a single pair of the connected plates of a battery.—Voltaic electricity, that form of electricity which is developed by chemical action, as in a voltaic pile or battery; galvanism.—Voltaic pile, the form of battery first devised by Volta, consisting of a column formed by successive pairs of metallic disks, as silver and zinc, with moistened cloth between every two contiguous pairs.—Voltaic protection of metals, the protection of a negative metal exposed to the corrosive action of sea-water, saline or acid liquids, and the like, by associating it with another metal which is positive to it, as when iron is coated with zinc in the galvanizing process.