The Science of Metal Detection

Metal detectors are interesting pieces of technology.presence of metal. Aside from the portable metal
They have a variety of uses and have become evendetectors that we have grown accustomed to and
more versatile throughout the years. Ever since theuse in hobbies and games like treasure hunting, there
first metal detectors came out in the 19th century,are some bigger models that are used mainly in
scientists and engineers never stopped working onsecurity and related fields.
better and more efficient designs.Other uses for metal detectors include detection of
Nowadays, there are metal detectors that can pinpointforeign objects in food. These pieces of equipment are
metals so accurately that they have becomeof course very useful in the construction industry as
indispensable tools in fields like mineralogy, engineering,well. You could easily detect steel reinforcing bars,
security and even in the military.pipes and wires that are buried in walls and floors with
From the crude models of the 19th century, thea detector.
modern detectors had its debut in the 1930s whenPowerful metal detectors are also used to determine
Gerhard Fischer released and patented his very ownthe location of mineral ores for the mining industry. In
metal detector. Fischer's design used resonating coilsthe field of archaeology, artifacts can be detected
to detect the presence of metal under the ground.even if they are buried deep underneath sand or soil.
These metal detectors proved to be an asset duringDuring rescue missions, sometimes metal detectors
World War II.also come in handy.
Metal detectors were used during the war to find landIn places like airports, security uses walk in metal
mines scattered across the paths of troops. Theydetectors to determine if people are carrying metallic
saved a number of soldiers back then. However,objects like knives and guns which can cause potential
these metal detectors could have been more useful ifdangers to passengers or commuters.
they were not that heavy.The standard coil detectors were the trend back then,
Early designs of metal detectors were not thatbut recent technologies have brought about new
convenient as compared today. These detectorsbreeds of metal detectors. You can now see the Beat
require a great amount of "juice" to power up whichBalance and Coil Coupled Operation metal detectors
means lugging behind heavy batteries.which were made available to the public just a couple
The modern detectors basically are made up of coilsof years ago.
and uses electromagnetic induction to detect the