Difference Between Nuts and Bolts

Nuts vs Bolts

Many people head to hardware stores searching for particular nuts or bolts without actually knowing exactly what they need. In cases like this, it is important to understand the differences that tend to cause confusion between these hardware parts, especially the like of nuts, bolts and screws.
A nut can be given a simple definition as a small metallic object, shaped in a way as to allow for easy and firm grip, with a spiral cut groove that runs around a hole in its centre. The spiral groove is referred to as the thread.

A bolt on the other hand is a metallic piece with a round stem as its body and threaded into one end, with a head to provide firm gripping at the other end. Bolts form the key part of a threaded connection. Some types of bolts are threaded for the full length and others are threaded for just a small length of the end.
One key difference between bolts and nuts is that bolts come in various length and sizes. The choice of bolt depends on the thickness of the material between the bolt’s head and the nut. However, there’s no particular type of metal that is used to make nuts or bolts. The most common metal used, though, is carbon steel, often coated with zinc to prevent corrosion. Notably, bolts made from stainless steel, a high grade steel material with a large percentage of nickel or chrome, are used in corrosive atmospheres. Other materials that can be used to make bolts and nuts include aluminum, plastic, brass and just steel. Selecting the type of nut and bolt to use depends on a number of factors including environment and strength.

Both nuts and bolts come in many types. Nuts come in the form of hex, cap, coupler, wing, turnbuckle and lock types. The hex nuts are six-sided and a standard spanner is used to turn them. Coupler nuts have some similarity with hex nuts except for their bigger thickness. Like their name suggests, coupler nuts are used to connect two bolts together.
As for bolts, there are the hex type, square, round and flat head bolts, studs and threaded rods both of which have no heads, anchor bolts nor toggle bolts.

Summary
A nut is a small metallic piece of metal with a spiral cut groove that runs around a hole in its centre while a bolt is a metallic piece with a round stem as its body and threaded into one end.
Bolts have different length sizes while nuts have a standard size.

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