Finding a power cord for a G4 flat-panel iMac

My wife bought a surplus iMac G4 from the university where she works, but it is missing a power cord. We were thinking about ordering one from an on-line Mac store, but we noticed that the power cord for an old, dead Dell laptop that we have has a plug that fits into back of the iMac. I was thinking about just plugging it in and trying it out, reasoning that power cords are pretty simple, standard devices, but then I worried that if somehow there is an incompatibility between that Dell cord and our new iMac, just trying it out could damage the iMac. Can anyone tell me if there is any difference between an iMac power cord that has the "Mickey Mouse" shaped plug to plug into the computer and a Dell power cord with a "Mickey Mouse" shaped plug for plugging into a DC converter for a laptop? Thanks.