As a matter of interest, The word shunt comes from the same root as to shun, ie deflect - get rid of, so you shunt off current flow through a bit of thick copper wire...
Ammeters actually measure the volts dropped across a fixed resistance ( the shunt ). generally a shunt is marked with it's maximum current, at that current, 50mV will be measured across the shunt. Shunt in railway terms is entirely different and comes from the shunt,shunt noise that steam trains make as they pull slowly away. Pete
