An ammeter is a low resistance device connected in series with the element through which we want to measure current However, a multimeter is connected in parallel with the element under observation for current measurement. What mechanism operates there ?

It cannot measure voltage and resistance and then take the quotient as resistance can be measured when resistor is isolated.

Does it first measure the impedance of the element,say it is **R** and then it varies its impedance between pins to say **1000R** , then impedance of this circuit is still nearly **R** so that we did not disturb original circuit noticeably, then it measures current through itself and multiplies it by 1000 to get the current through **R**.

Wikipedia says:

>For analog current ranges, matched low-resistance shunts are connected in parallel with the meter movement to divert most of the current around the coil. Again for the case of a hypothetical 1 mA, 500 Ω movement on a 1 A range, the shunt resistance would be just over 0.5 Ω.

However I don't understand it.

Please explain the solution.