Abstract: In order to study the electrical explosion mechanism and rules of the metal conductor in different media, a series of copper wire electrical explosion experiments have been conducted in water and in air under the different initiation voltages. The burst currents were measured using a Rogowski coil and the burst voltages were measured using a high-voltage probe. And then, the property parameter of electrical explosion of the copper wires are obtained. The influence of initiation voltage and medium on the properties of electrical explosion have been analyzed. The results show that under the same initiation voltage, the burst time of the copper wires in water lags behind the burst time in the air, and the energy deposition rate in water is higher than that in air. When the initiation voltage is low, wires explosion in water is hard to occur for secondary discharge.