How It Works - UK (2020-05)

http://www.howitworksdaily.com How It Works 057

DID YOU KNOW? The first metal detector was invented to find a bullet lodged in the chest of President James Garfield

Searchingbelowground,

thesedevicesinteractwith

buriedmetaltohelpyou

findtreasure

How is metal

detected?

1

THE HAND OF FAITH

Kingower, Australia, 1980

Lying just 30 centimetres below

ground level, Kevin Hillier’s

metal-detecting hobby proved

fruitful when he stumbled across a

mesmerising 27-kilogram golden

nugget near Kingower in Australia.

Dubbed the Hand of Faith, it was

the largest piece of gold ever found

using a metal detector and bagged

Hillier over $1 million dollars.

2

BRONZE AGE AXES

Dorset, UK, 2008

After dropping some children off

for a school trip, bus driver Tom

Peirce pulled out his metal

detector. He dug only 25

centimetres into the ground to find

the head of a bronze-age axe.

Further digging led to the discovery

of nearly 500 bronze artefacts that

date back roughly 3,000 years.

They were thought to have been

buried as an offering to the gods,

and it’s one of the largest finds of

its kind in the UK.

3

RING FINGER

Montana, US, 1995

At the site of the infamous 1876

Battle of Little Bighorn, a volunteer

archaeologist came across a finger

bone still wearing a wedding ring.

They discovered this was the body

of a soldier who was killed

alongside the troops of Lieutenant

colonel George Custer.

4

SPACE ROCK

Albuquerque, US, 2011

13-year-old Jansen Lyons from

New Mexico was using a cheap

homemade metal detector in the

Albuquerque suburb of Rio Rancho

when he discovered a 0.9-kilogram

meteorite. The nickel-iron

meteorite is thought to have hit

Earth 10,000 years ago.

5

CHARIOT BURIAL

Pembrokeshire, Wales, 2018

Some finds are of much higher

historical importance than

monetary value. In the middle of an

empty Welsh field, Mike Smith

unearthed a small Celtic harness

decoration, dated to be from 25 to

75 CE. Later he discovered that it

was part of the first Iron Age

chariot burial found in Wales. He

then returned to retrieve an entire

horse skeleton and carriage. This

highlighted the first known Iron

Age settlement in the area.

TOP^5

DISCOVERIES

This is one of the first metal detectors. It

was used in World War I to locate bombs

© F. Honoré

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Batterypower

Thetopofthemetal

detectorhousesa battery.

Thisbatteryis responsible

foractivatingtheoutside

coilbypassingelectricity

downthehandle.

Stabiliser

Foundonsomemetal

detectors,thissimple-yet-

effectiveadditionallows

comfortandcontrolduring

treasurehunting.Supporting

yourarm,it allowsthe

detectortobeheldsteadily.

Controlbox

Thisis wherethe

speaker,batteryand

controlsarestored.

Cable

Twistedaroundthe

handle,it transfers

powertothecoil.

Handle

Thisis longenough

thattheuserdoesn

needtocrouch.

Gettingcloser

Oncealertedtometalin the

area,theexactspotneeds

tobelocated.Asthe

detectoris movedcloserto

themetal,themagneticfield

becomesstrongerand

createsa loudernoise.

Makingmagnetism

Themagneticfieldfromthe

detectorcreatesa new

magneticfieldaroundthemetal.

Thisis whatwillbedetected.

Affectingatoms

Asthedetector’s

magneticfieldmoves

overthemetalin the

ground,themovementof

electronsaroundthe

metal’satomsis altered.

Trans

Whenele

throught

fieldis createdaroun

Receivercoil

Thiscoilis responsibleforalertingthe

personusingthedetectortometalbelow.

Connectedtoa loudspeaker,whenthe