How harmful is the current generated by electric eel to human body?

Electric eel is an eel-shaped South American fish of the family Lepidopteridae, which can generate enough current to make people dizzy. It is a freshwater fish with the strongest discharge ability, and its output voltage can reach 300 ~ 800 volts. Therefore, the electric eel is called the "high voltage line" in the water, but it is not a real eel, but closely related to catfish-shaped species. Let's take a look at the electric eel.

Why do electric eels discharge?

There are some cells in the electric eel, just like small laminated batteries. When it is excited by nerve signals, it can suddenly make ions flow through its cell membrane. Electric eels have such cells from beginning to end, just like many stacked batteries.

When a current is generated, all these batteries (the voltage of each battery is about 0. 15 volts) are connected in series, thus generating a high voltage between the head and tail of the electric eel. Many of these batteries are connected in parallel, so that enough current can be generated outside the body. These currents are enough to stun or kill its prey or natural enemies.

Electric eel, will it electrocute people?

Electric eels can electrocute people. The average voltage of electric eel during discharge is above 350 volts, but there are also records of 650 volts. The maximum voltage of American electric eels exceeds 800 volts, which is strong enough to crush a cow.

When the electric eel discharges, the current generated is extremely weak, generally less than 1 amp. Sometimes the voltage is 500 volts and the current is 2 amps, that is, the power is 1000 watts. Although direct current is emitted, the discharge frequency can reach 300 pulses per second.

Can electric eels electrocute themselves?

The discharge organs of electric eel are on both sides of the body, and most or important organs of the body are wrapped in highly insulated structures, just like large batteries in water. The current passes through the path with the least resistance, so when discharging in water, the current will be conducted through the water (the resistance is smaller than that of the electric eel), and the electric eel will not get an electric shock by itself.

But if the electric eel is caught in the air, because the resistance of the air is greater than the resistance of its body, it will electrocute itself if it discharges. In addition, if the electric eel is injured, the insulators on both sides are damaged at the same time, and it will be short-circuited like two bare wires when discharging.