So the eel produces electricity by having cells that separate ion concentrations. Ions are particles with electric charge. When you separate the concentration you create a charge gradient which is a way to store energy. When the ions are allowed to flow freely they will flow from high to low concentration which is going to create electricity. Put a lot of these cells together and the electric output can be rather impressive. These cells work on a very close idea as your nerves and are more or less adapted from nerves.
Bodies are pretty much always producing small electric signals. Smartphone touchscreens actually detect that electricity in us to know where we touched the screen. There’s basically cells that produce a tiny bit of electricity. What electric eels evolved to do is have them work in unison. So, whereas we can just make a constant, low-level electric signal, they can do that or synchronize it all so there’s a real zap.
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