Graphite (also known as Plumbago, Black-lead, and as Wad) is pure carbon with a relative hardness of 2, occurring naturally and often confused with the heavier molybdenite. Graphite occurs not infrequently as a mineral production, and is found in great purity at Borrowdale in Cumberland, and in large quantities in Canada, Sri Lanka, and at Bohemia. Graphite has an iron-grey colour, a metallic lustre, and a granular texture, and is soft and unctuous to the touch. It is formed from organic materials or by the presence of hydrocarbons in a metamorphic region. Graphite may be heated to any extent in close vessels without change and is exceedingly unchangeable in the air and as such has been used in the manufacture of crucibles, as a lubricant when mixed with oils, and as 'lead' for pencils when mixed with clay. Graphite is also used in burnishing iron to protect it from rust, for giving a smooth surface to casting moulds, for coating wax or other impressions of objects designed to be electro-typed, and for counteracting friction between the rubbing surfaces of wood or metal in machinery. Since the start of the 20th century artificial graphite has been produced by the electric furnace. Research Graphite
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Abbreviations
Rocks & Minerals
Research Graphite
