Body length2.5 m
8.7 billionGold atoms
2.5Tuba heights
10.4Chopsticks
Photo from Wikimedia Commons
Electric Eel (Single Discharge)
860 volts of biological engineering/Marine Life
The electric eel (Electrophorus electricus) can generate up to 860 volts and 1 ampere of current in bursts lasting about 2 milliseconds. Its electric organs comprise about 80% of its body length and contain about 6,000 electrocyte cells stacked like batteries in series. The eel uses low-voltage pulses for navigation and communication, and high-voltage shocks to stun prey. It must surface to breathe air every 10 minutes.
Measurements
Weight20 kg
382 billionthsTitanics
66.7 billionthsSupertanker loads
2 billionPollen grains
Energy per discharge1.72 J
860 trillionX-ray photons
1 quintillionthsMt St Helens eruptions
860V x 1A x 0.002s
Peak discharge power860 W
43Resting brains
1.7 tenthsClothes dryers
9.6 millionthsBoeing 747 engines
860V x 1A
Discharge duration2 thousandths s
3.3 millionthsCar washes
15.9 trillionthsUS presidencies
33.3 millionthsMicrowave minutes
About 2 ms
Navigation pulse rate25 Hz
1Cat purr
5Dog pants
Low-voltage pulses