How does a pencil write?
Graphite's Sliding Trick
How does a pencil write?
You press a pencil to paper and dark lines appear, like magic. But it's not magic at all — it's a clever trick that's been working for hundreds of years. Inside that yellow wooden shell is a special kind of rock that loves to leave pieces of itself behind.
The "lead" in your pencil isn't actually lead — it's graphite, a soft gray mineral made entirely of carbon atoms. Graphite is so soft you could scratch it with your fingernail. That softness is the whole point.
