How much electricity does an electric eel generate?
The quick answer is that a mature electric eel can produce a shock up to 500 volts at 1 amp of current (500 watts). The eel’s organs are capable of producing two types of electric discharge– low voltage and high voltage. Both could be harmful to an adult human.
The longer answer, or exactly how the electric eel produces electricity is a bit more complex. Basically, the electric eel has three abdominal pairs of organs that produce electricity. They’re called the Sachs organ, the hunter’s organ and the main organ. The eel’s vital organs are contained in the first one fifth of its body whereas these electricity producing organs are in the remainder four fifths.
These organs are made of electrocytes lined up in series so the current flows through them and produces an electrical charge. When the eel locates its prey, the brain sends a signal through the nervous system to the electric cells. This opens the ion channel, allowing positively-charged sodium to flow through, reversing the charges momentarily. By causing a sudden difference in voltage, it generates a current. The electric eel generates its characteristic electrical pulse in a manner similar to a battery, in which stacked plates produce an electrical charge. [wikipedia]
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