Electric battery common fuels such as gasoline. In automobiles, this is somewhat offset by the higher efficiency of electric motors in converting chemical energy to mechanical work, compared to combustion engines. The usage of "battery" to describe a group of electrical devices dates to Benjamin Franklin, who in 1748 described multiple Leyden jars by analogy to a battery of cannon (Benjamin Franklin borrowed the term "battery" from the military, which refers to weapons functioning together). Italian physicist Alessandro Volta built and described the first electrochemical battery, the voltaic pile, in 1800. This was a stack of copper and zinc plates, separated by
1827 Atkinson survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, "Atkinson" measures 8.855 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.249. This minor planet was named after British astronomer, physicist and inventor, Robert d'Escourt Atkinson (1898–1982), noted for his contributions to fundamental astronomy. Atkinson pioneered in studying nuclear energy-generation in the Sun and stars. The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center before November 1977 (). 1827 Atkinson 1827 Atkinson, provisional designation , is a background asteroid from the central regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 9 kilometers in diameter. It