If I put my toaster in the ocean, why wouldn't the electric kill everything in it?!?

Question

Silly question I know - but if I put an electric power cord in, say, a large lake, how far would the electric spread? People are also not electricuted in a flood when the power lines come down - how come?

Answer 1

Electricity will only go as far as the push (amperes) that it gets, if you wanted to electrify an entire lake you would need  more amperes than you could get from an AC outlet or portable generator. A lot more, depending on the size of the lake anywhere from hundreds of thousand amps to several million.

Answer 2

do it! try come on do IT

Answer 3

cuz theres no toast in it. and eels are electric too so are jelly fishes

Answer 4

if its not plugged up.

Answer 5

The electricity will find the route of least resistance to ground. This is likely to just be sea water so it is likely that nothing will  get electrocuted.

Answer 6

It would so don't do it. They will know its you because of this site.

Answer 7

The fuse in the toaster would blow before it could cause any damage to the wildlife in the lake. The fuse is designed to blow in situations like you describe though you wont find any instructions on the toaster telling you not to put it in a lake while it is plugged in.  The same thing applies to cases where there is a flood. The fuse on the main circuit breaker blows and no more electricity is passed down the cable. Just like turning off a tap.

Answer 8

Please god stop refering to 'electiric' as a noun.

Answer 9

because it wouldnt cause a big enough electrical current.

Answer 10

v good question. I know that electricity is caused by the passing on of energy through atoms by electrons *gasp*.

I suppose that this energy must all convert after a while (from electrical energy to heat sound and light energy).

I think that a lake would be difficult to electrocute lol. probably most you can do is swimming pool size.

Answer 11

doubtful mr curious mental person....lol

Answer 12

electricity only goes so far....the electrical current uses the water as a medium to travel but as it moves outward it looses its intensity....within a couple hundred feet it has fully dissipated....also most marine organisms would probably be able to cope....think about lightning all over the ocean....

Answer 13

not sure, good question

Answer 14

Power is transfered through molecules by them moving. sticking a lot of power in one spot will make the molecules move very fast transfering energy. If there are a lot of water molecules then when you stick the cord in it wont be able to transmit threw all of them, only the ones close to it.  It's like when you punch a pillow: where you punch indents from the impact and then it forms a crater like indent. but the whole pillow isnt flattened, only where you hit and some around it. the outside stays the same. basicly to answer your question, there isnt enough power being put into the water to electrify all of the water.

Answer 15

because the sea contains salt

and salt doesnt conduct electricity

so there ya go lol

Answer 16

The power will short immediatly and the fuse will blow.

And your toaster will have browned its last muffin.

.

Answer 17

Because there is so much water the charge is dissipated.  It's also a complete circuit.  Like when a bird sits on a power line there isn't any actual amperage travelling through the bird  until it touches something metal that conducts electricity like a transformer which will kill the bird.  it's the amperage that's a killer you.

Answer 18

good question ???I will star it, love to know

Answer 19

the distributed current would become very diluted.

Answer 20

Because you forgot to plug it in.

Answer 21

The law of thermodynamics states that the amount of kjoles is equal to the sum of H2O, that means that the amount of watts that are emitted by the appliance go as far as the amount of water they are equal to. Translation, if your toaster was the size of say, the Titanic, the range of the electricity would be roughly the size of the titanic. The 'shock' also would be deadly at the epicenter, and gradually reduce in intensity as you move out of the epicenter range.