Inventions
Paper Clip
Mechanical Engineering
Citation Formats
General Reference
APA Style
BibTeX
A paper clip is a tool, usually a length of steel wire bent into a looped shape, used to hold sheets of paper together. Most paper clips follow variations of the Gem type introduced in the 1890s or earlier, characterized by one and a half loops of wire, and work by using the wire's torsion and elasticity together with friction against the paper: inserting sheets between the clip's two tongues forces them apart, and the resulting torsion in the bend grips the sheets together.
Sources
Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.
View At A Past Year
The atlas records no dated fact of its own for this entry, so there is no other year to choose.