Electric eel
Yesterday Abel (age 6) told me about a video on youtube that shows an electric eel lighting up a Christmas tree. When I was 6 I was also interested in electric eels but haven't really thought so much about them since then. So, how does the electric eel do it? According to Wikipedia it has cells called electroplaques that have the ability to create a PD of about 0.1 V for short periods of time. Thousands of these cells are so that the PDs add up to give a total of several hundred volts able to stun fish or give a human a nasty shock. The max power output is in the order of 500 W which is enough to light the (probably) LED lights on the Christmas tree but only momentarily.
Here is the Christmas tree clip
And one from 1954 in which some volunteers get shocked.
Tags: electricity