Which mineral forms the lead in a pencil?

Amazingly, only the mixture of two minerals forms the leads that are present in pencil. These minerals are clay and graphite. Thus, leads in pencils are made from a mixture of clay and graphite. Graphite is known as one of the softest minerals that are present on earth, and this mineral material would put a mark on paper easily when used on it.

Graphite is one of the major forms of carbon aside diamond. This inventory was made in the 1600s when some people discovered graphite being dug out of the hill. The usage also went famous around this time after men taught of sawing it into sticks.

During those times, the chemical attributes of this graphite material have not been known, as chemistry itself was still in its state of infancy. At a point in time, this material was called a black lead. The fact actually remains that the lead in pencils is only called a lead, but they are not. They are factually graphites.

The correct answer to this question is graphite. Graphite is one of the crystalline allotropes of carbon. It is found in igneous and metamorphic rocks. In graphite, each carbon atom is covalently bonded to three other atoms to produce an infinite two dimensions. Graphite is a hard substance and it has a density of 2.3g cm and melts at about 3500 degrees Celsius.

It is also insoluble in any solvent.
Graphite forms soft, black, and opaque hexagonal crystals which are greasy to feel. The softness of graphite is when adjacent layers slide over one another. Apart from being used in lead pencils, it is also used as a lubricant because it is soft and insoluble in water. Lastly, graphite is an example of a nonmetallic conductor.

Graphite is the mineral which forms the lead in a pencil. It is a naturally occurring form of crystal lean carbon. It is found in metamorphic and igneous rock, and graphite is the perfect material to help make a pencil. It has a very light pressure and a shallow specific gravity, and it is also extremely resistant to heat. It is inert in contact with other materials.

These different properties which are based on extremes make it a very durable and useful content. When graphite is in high concentrations it can be crushed into particle size which separates to produce “flake graphite,” it is processed by specific gravity to remove low-density graphite.