How does a shunt work?
Also known as an ammeter shunt or a current shunt resistor, a shunts low resistance creates only a small amount of voltage drop by using little energy in the process. By using Ohms Law equation, the voltage across the shunt is measured and used to calculate the current flow in amperes.
A resistor of accurately known resistance (usually a manganin resistor) is placed in parallel with the ammeter. The current is then divided so that only a small amount travels through the ammeter and the actual amperage can be directly measured.
Shunts applications
Shunts are diverse and capable of many uses within many different applications:
can be used to redirect noise sending it to the ground before the signal reaches the circuit elements.
Types of shunts
There are several different types of shunts such as, standard brass ended, compact brass ended, digital, plate type and wire type.