The difference between fixtures and tools.

It is possible to repair, screw or use any object properly using a fixture or tool. What can they be?

What is a device?

Under a device can be understood as a certain functional object that allows a person to carry out a particular useful action or solve a task, but does not imply active involvement directly by a person.

For example, if it is necessary to fill a bath with water in order to take it, then a device is used - a cork. All that needs to be done is to stick it into the drain hole, and it will “function” in the future without the intervention of the washable person (if it is not necessary, in turn, to drain the water).

Or, for example, if you need to catch the signal of the cellular network outside the city, you may need another device - an external antenna for the device. Again, all you have to do is plug it into the connector on the machine. It will function and benefit without much human intervention.

Antenna (fixture)

Devices, as a rule, have a narrow purpose. The cork for the bathtub can hardly be used for other purposes, except for the purpose of blocking the drainage of water - it is adapted only for this. The same can be said about the external antenna for the cell phone. It can hardly be used, for example, to amplify a television signal (unless, of course, it is improved in a certain way - but in this case, it will most likely stop picking up the cellular signal and turn into a television antenna, another device).

What is an instrument?

Under a tool can be understood, as in the case of a device, an object for the implementation of a useful action or solution of a set task, functioning, however, with direct involvement by a person.

Tool

So, a screwdriver is used to drive screws and screws. But she is not able to screw them in without human intervention - he will have to twist her. Even an automatic screwdriver assumes its correct connection, placement at a certain angle, selection of certain nozzles - all these actions are performed by a person.

An instrument is a somewhat more versatile object in comparison with a device. The same screwdriver can be used to screw in different types of screws and screws. It can also be used to solve other everyday tasks - for example, if it is a flat screwdriver, then with the help of it you can open something, correct something, push it into the right place. But, of course, there are less versatile tools that are designed for a specific task. For example, the plane, a popular carpentry tool, can hardly be used for purposes other than planing wood.

Comparison

The main difference between devices and tools is that objects of the first type perform their useful function most often without the active participation of a person. The second is the opposite. Fixtures tend to be less versatile than tools.

However, it is not necessary to strictly draw the line between the considered technical terms. An object that is an adaptation in one situation can be an instrument in another, and vice versa. For example, if you take a screwdriver - a tool - and screw a wire and a coaxial plug to it in a certain way, you get a kind of homemade antenna - already a device.

Having determined what is the difference between fixtures and tools, let us fix the conclusions in the table.

Table

Accessories Tools
What do they have in common?
Tools can be tools, and vice versa
What is the difference between them?
Perform a useful function without active human participationPerform a useful function with direct human participation
Generally less versatileGenerally more versatile
.