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What Are Everyday Machines That Use the Principle of a Screw?

You use machines every day that involve the physical principles of the screw. The screw mechanism was invented by Archimedes, a man from Syracuse on the island of Sicily, on his first trip to Egypt about 225 B.C. He employed the hydraulic screw to raise water from the Nile River to farmlands along the river's shores. We continue to use the screw to make moving, opening, closing and holding things easier.
  1. Kitchen Uses

    • A screw driven meat grinder.

      Twist the cap from a bottle or remove a lid from a jar and you are using the screw mechanism developed more than 2,000 years ago by Archimedes. Crank the handle of a meat grinder as you feed chunks of meat into the input funnel, and a screw forces the meat through grinding heads to deliver ground meat at the output end of the grinder. Open a bottle of wine with a hand or powered corkscrew, and the principle of the screw removes the cork.

    Tools and Shop Devices

    • Micrometer with screw adjustment.

      Connect and secure two objects or surfaces together using screws or bolts, and you are using the screw as a fastening device. Crank the handle on a bench vise, and the screw mechanism draws the clamping surfaces together to hold your work while you file, cut, drill or polish. Twist the wheel on an adjustable wrench and the internal screw moves the wrench jaws to fit a bolt or nut. When you use a C-clamp to hold two pieces of material together a screw provides the holding strength. Drilling with a rotary drill or brace and bit involves the physical principle of the screw. A screw device moves the caliper fingers of a micrometer in measuring outside or inside dimensions of materials in a shop.

    Furniture with Screw Devices

    • Screw adjustable piano stool.

      Spin the seat of a rotary piano stool, and a screw raises the seat to the desired height. Many secretarial and executive office chairs use the same principle. Your large pieces of furniture like buffets and grandfather clocks may use screwable feet for height adjustment and leveling.

    Automotive Screws

    • Screw operated car jack.

      When you jack up a car with a rotary jack you are using the considerable lifting power of a screw mechanism to raise the car so you can change a tire. The lugs that hold the wheels on your car are screw shafts that receive the lug nuts that keep your wheels secure at highway speeds. You use a screw to raise and lower windows when you use a hand crank to open and close them.

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