# How much energy could be stored in an average human body using electric organs?

I have been playing with the ideas of electricity generating/attacks for my characters using either electric organs similar to electric eels or some sort of bio battery using bacteria that produce electrons.

I was wondering to what limit electrical energy of this form could be contained in a battery like organ for later use that could fit within a human, or maybe using theorised storage technologies of the future that I could alter to be biological.

I was wondering if even a large surface area sheet like organ under skin could be possible to maximise the amount able to be stored.

So my question is How much and what is the best way to store the most amount of electricity within an average human body?

In our body there is already a mechanism for separating charges. It is called the Na+/K+ pump

The Na+/K+-ATPase enzyme is active (i.e. it uses energy from ATP). For every ATP molecule that the pump uses, three sodium ions are exported and two potassium ions are imported; there is hence a net export of a single positive charge per pump cycle. All mammals have four different sodium pump sub-types, or isoforms.

You can get a sort of baseline for the amount of electricity you can store in a human body in the following way: if you charge each cell of the human body with 1 spare electron, considering that in a human body there are about 30 trillion cells, you would get a net charge of $$10^{12} \cdot 10^{-19}= 0.1 \mu C$$.

Considering that $$Q=I\cdot t$$, it would be the equivalent of a current of 0.1 mA flowing in 1 ms.

• this answer is going over my head a little sorry but I like the different approach, could I change the cells or ATP system to hold a much stronger charge? – RandySavage Oct 28 '19 at 21:14
• @JRams, you can have more than 1 electron per cell by providing the adequate energy (charging a charged body is increasingly more difficult) – L.Dutch - Reinstate Monica Oct 29 '19 at 3:22
• @L Dutch Ok Thanks for the answer – RandySavage Oct 29 '19 at 12:30

The organs you want are modified muscles called electrocytes. They are sodium-potassium ion pumps shaped like a disk (or a hearing aid battery) which can be stacked up. Each electrocyte can create and hold a charge of 105mV before the dialectic membrane breaks down.

Electric eels stack up to 200,000 electrocytes to form their stun weapons, capable of generating up to 860V in some species.

The combined cells are all closely synchronized such that each of the 200,000 electrocytes triggers at the same time. The whole device is known as a living Marx Generator.

The sheet organ capacitor is a bad idea because as your body flexes you can’t control the dialectic gap to prevent arcing. A crease in the skin will discharge your device.

• "The whole device is known as a living Marx Generator." And it shall be used to create a regime of peace and love! – Renan Oct 29 '19 at 4:48
• @Vogon Poet Thanks, I didn't know a similar circuit has been used in technology. – RandySavage Oct 29 '19 at 12:29