Why is Electric not super-effective against Steel?

Question

i was playing platinum earlier and used an electric attack on a sheildon. and was started to think, "why isn't electric super effective against steel types?" i mean electric is good on water and flying because electricity passes through water and air easily. but electricity also travels through steel. so why is it not super efective?

Comments

its not the air, its actually the birds who are flying high in the air that are more vulnerable to getting struck by lightning

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also the "water" pokemon swim in water, which conducts electricity, making them vulnerable to electricity.

Answer 1

Actually neither water nor air conduct electricity at all. Mixing water with electricity creates sparks though: this is due to the impurities in the water. Electricity can pass through air only when a huge static charge has built up (as in lightning).

The thing with steel is that because it is such a good conductor, electricity just passes through it, causing little damage. Electricity in water causes a lot of sparks, doing more damage.

Comments

Actually Water does conduct electricity well in fact this is the reason why when electricity hits water it kills everything in it. Source: Science camp

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Pokemaster is correct with this. If you had Distilled (Pure) water, it wouldn't be able to conduct with the same ability as impure water as he said. The lack of impurities interfering with the chemical make up of the water means that the pure water has a different resistivity from the impure water and will not conduct the same.

If two objects have a great enough potential difference, is when charge flows through an object in greater amounts.


Source: AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism

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DT does that mean if there was a new water Pokemon introduced had like a pure water ability would it not get hurt by electricity?

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It means that Steel types resist steel. It's a game, so the basic "Water is beaten by electricity" is pretty simple, since impure water is much more common to see than Distilled water, especially in the context of what would be a pokemon battle. It's a bunch of super powered animals, so I don't think every law of science really applies anyway.

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what an answer!
dat an upvote by me

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Well is this a science question or a pokeeeeemon question?

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Does it matter which one it was? Because Pokémon draws on real world things, some questions will crossover an this answer solved both in an OUTSTANDING fashion!

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a lightning rod explains everything.