The pencil “lead” is actually a mixture of graphite and clay. More clay in the mixture makes the lead harder. A harder lead has a higher number. Pencils are numbered from 1-3 but most people use a ...

The core of the pencil is made of carbon — the same carbon most of us are primarily made of. Carbon is one of the most common elements on our planet. It can come in different phases and forms.

Pencils, erasers, ballpoint pens - it was ... of paper), or a wax layer on a piece of wood. Some styluses were made of lead, which became popular - but as the centuries rolled on, graphite found ...