Ammeter connected directly across a voltage source since their internal resistance is very low and excess current would flow. Ammeters are designed for a low voltage drop across their terminals, much less than one volt; the extra circuit losses produced by the ammeter are called its "burden" on the measured circuit. Ordinary Weston-type meter movements can measure only milliamperes at most, because the springs and practical coils can carry only limited currents. To measure larger currents, a resistor called a "shunt" is placed in parallel with the meter. The resistances of shunts is in the integer to fractional milliohm range. Nearly
Electrical length Electrical length In telecommunications and electrical engineering, electrical length (or phase length) refers to the length of an electrical conductor in terms of the phase shift introduced by transmission over that conductor at some frequency. Depending on the specific usage, the term "electrical length" is used rather than simple physical length to incorporate one or more of the following three concepts: The first usage of the term "electrical length" assumes a sine wave of some frequency, or at least a narrowband waveform centered around some frequency "f". The sine wave will repeat with a period of "T" = 1/"f". The