Eli5- In electrical wiring, does some electricity dissipate into the surrounding material, like water/air/insulation?

Question

Eli5- In electrical wiring, does some electricity dissipate into the surrounding material, like water/air/insulation?

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Answer 1

It does for AC power because the electricity is constantly changing direction and that means a changing electrical and magnetic field. That’s why high-power undersea cables tend to be DC, to avoid those losses. Air is much less dense so the energy loss is tolerable for above-ground transmission lines. The buried cables in residential areas are relatively short and low power, keeping the losses to acceptable levels.