# Does power still pass through an extension cord if it is turned off? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 6, 2020, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-power-still-pass-through-an-extension-cord-if-it-is-turned-off/914542 "2020-07-06T22:29:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 5
**Author:** ![am77494](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d2c977/32.png) [@am77494](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/am77494)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2020, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-power-still-pass-through-an-extension-cord-if-it-is-turned-off/914542/5 "2020-07-07T01:31:01Z")
> [@Turning off surge protector in lightning: Enhance or reduce its protection?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turning-off-surge-protector-in-lightning-enhance-or-reduce-its-protection/851454/4): > > Electricity arcs about 1 cm for every 30,000 volts or so, which means that the very short distance between switch contacts can be bridged by only a few thousand volts, where it is going to take a much higher voltage to jump from the wall outlet to the power strip if the plug is a foot or more away from it. Engineer\_Comp\_Geek’s quote is taken from a different post. As quoted, just like a spark plug, higher voltages can jump from one conductor to another. So an off residential switch doesn’t provide much protection if you were to get a “big” lightning hit. The solution for high voltage switches is to use dielectrics that don’t breakdown like air does --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-power-still-pass-through-an-extension-cord-if-it-is-turned-off/914542)._