Screws

Screw is an externally helical threaded fastener capable of being tightened or released by a twisting force (torque) to the head. The most common uses of screws are to hold objects together and there are many forms for a variety of materials. Screws might be inserted into holes in assembled parts or a screw may form its own thread.

The screw head on one end has a milled slot that commonly requires a tool to transfer the twisting force. Common tools for driving screws include screwdrivers, wrenches, coins and hex keys. The head is usually larger than the body, which provide a bearing surface and keeps the screw from being driven deeper than its length; an exception being the set screw (aka grub screw). The cylindrical portion of the screw from the underside of the head to the tip is called the shank; it may be fully or partially threaded with the distance between each thread called the pitch.

Most screws are tightened by clockwise rotation, which is called a right-hand thread. Screws with a left-hand thread are used in exceptional cases, such as where the screw will be subject to counterclockwise torque, which would tend to loosen a right-hand screw. For this reason, the left-side pedal of a bicycle has a left-hand thread.

The screw mechanism is one of the six classical simple machines defined by Renaissance scientists

The difference between a screw and a bolt is that the latter is designed to be tightened or released by torquing a nut.