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metal detector
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electronic instrument which detects the presence of metal nearby
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- physical tool
- Subclass of
- detector
- Image
- Treasure Hunter (7581125700).jpg
Show 3 more facts
- Commons category
- Metal detectors
- topic's main category
- Category:Metal detecting
- time of discovery or invention
- 1874-00-00
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
~33 min read
Encyclopedic overview
U.S. Army soldiers use a military standard metal detector
A metal detector is an instrument that detects the nearby presence of metal. Metal detectors are useful for finding metal objects on the surface, underground, and under water. A metal detector typically consists of a control box, an adjustable shaft, and a variable-shaped pickup coil. When the coil nears metal, the control box signals its presence with a tone, numerical reading, light, or needle movement. Signal intensity typically increases with proximity or metal size and composition. A common type are stationary "walk through" metal detectors used at access points in prisons, courthouses, airports and psychiatric hospitals to detect concealed metal weapons on a person's body.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “metal detector” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.