Lunchtime Snapple Fact #219

"Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom" (will-alib) 07/18/2018 at 14:12 • Filed to: None

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“ An electric eel can release a charge powerful enough to start 50 cars ”

W o u l d l i k e t o s e e M y t h b u s t e r s p r o v e t h i s o n e o u t .

LOREM IPSUM > Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom 07/18/2018 at 14:24

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I wonder what it's CDR is?

Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom > LOREM IPSUM 07/18/2018 at 14:26

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C a p a c i t a n c e d i s c h a r g e r a t e ?

LOREM IPSUM > Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom 07/18/2018 at 14:28

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Close. Continuous Discharge Rating.

Also wondering how many mah an eel has. Don't want to run them completely empty, after all.

Tekamul > Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom 07/18/2018 at 14:33

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This is entirely wrong.

An eel makes as much peak power as multiple batterie s , but can do so for such a short amount of time (<5ms) that you could not start anything.

This has been your D owner of the D ay

ateamfan42 > Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom 07/18/2018 at 14:46

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People who don’t understand electricity often confuse the meanings of voltage (potential), current, power, energy, and charge. They are all distinct (though sometimes related) quantities.

Assuming a typical car starter draws 400 amps for 5 seconds, 50 cars would require 100,000 coulombs of charge.

According to here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_eel, the eel can deliver 1 amp for 2 milliseconds. That’s 2 millicoulombs. Sorry, Snapple. You are off by a factor of about 50 million.

LOREM IPSUM > ateamfan42 07/18/2018 at 15:05

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1 amp at h ow many volts though, I wonder?

Not enough to research it or anything... But I wonder.

ateamfan42 > LOREM IPSUM 07/18/2018 at 15:24

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1 amp at how many volts though, I wonder?

The Wikipedia page says 860 volts. But the original statement made a claim about charge, and voltage doesn’t matter for that. (It c ertainly makes a difference when it comes to power, though) .

LOREM IPSUM > ateamfan42 07/18/2018 at 15:33

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It might power the dash lights of 71.67 cars wired in series though, for a fraction of a second anyway. Unless my maths are off, which they probably are. Lmfao.

LOREM IPSUM > ateamfan42 07/18/2018 at 15:41

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Now I wonder if it’s possible to stress an eel to the point of thermal runaway, and if so, what the subsequent venting process looks like. 

Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom > ateamfan42 07/18/2018 at 15:43

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I am now composing an angry email to Snapple customer service for the misleading factoid. Thanks for clearing this up . You are a Good American.

wafflesnfalafel > LOREM IPSUM 07/18/2018 at 16:07

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and what would happen if you connect several eels in series

LOREM IPSUM > wafflesnfalafel 07/18/2018 at 16:11

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ateamfan42 > Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom 07/18/2018 at 16:20

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Thanks for clearing this up. You are a Good American .

Just an engineer doing what I can to stamp out ignorance of how electricity works . Turns out i t isn’t actually magic angry pixies.

ateamfan42 > LOREM IPSUM 07/18/2018 at 16:24

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Now I wonder if it’s possible to stress an eel to the point of thermal runaway, and if so, what the subsequent venting process looks like.

Thermal runaway does require a positive temperature coefficient on the power delivery. I am unfamiliar if eels are typically PTC or NTC. Though d ue to a finite energy capacity, I expect the eel is self- limiting in both the current an voltage departments.

LOREM IPSUM > ateamfan42 07/18/2018 at 16:27

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Yeah. Plus they're water cooled.

Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom > ateamfan42 07/18/2018 at 16:38

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Turns out it isn’t actually magic angry pixies.

B u t o f c o u r s e . C l e a r l y i t ’ s m a g i c a n g r y e e l s .