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Springs are objects that store mechanical energy. They are most often made of steel and they are flexible. When their shape is changed, springs exert a resisting force - they push when compressed and pull when stretched. When using a spring you are witnessing a process know as elastic deformation. This term is used for metal that temporarily bends and then reverts to its original shape. Springs may be small and inexpensive parts of a greater whole, but they are often crucial components in reliable performance.

Metal springs date back to the Bronze Age, but it was during the Renaissance that springs became very necessary with the invention of precise timepieces. With the coming of the industrial revolution there was an even greater demand for springs, but whereas the springs used by clockmakers were hand-made, those for industry needed to be large, inexpensive and mass-produced by machine rather than by hand.

There are many types of springs: coil (also called helical springs), conical, leaf spring, spiral and cantilever. The type of springs that most people are familiar with are probably coil springs. Coil and conical springs are torsion springs which means that when the wire is stretched or compressed that the wire itself twists. Leaf springs are flat sheets most often used in vehicle suspensions. Spiral springs are used in things like clocks and cantilever springs are only fixed at one end.

Though springs are used in all kinds of large mechanical objects and machinery, you'll also be able to find some in everyday household objects. Springs can be found in things like staplers, pens, beds and chairs.

The spring's biggest claim to fame is probably the Slinky, which was invented by Richard James and his wife, Betty. The slinky uses the same spiral or coil design as a spring, and though it now comes in all sorts of plastic colors, it was originally made of metal.