What is the silvery substance at the center of pencils comprised of?

The "lead" of modern pencils is actually not made of lead. Instead, the "lead" of the pencil is actually a mix of finely ground graphite and clay powders. Most pencil cores are made of graphite mixed with a clay binder which leaves grey or black marks that can be easily erased. Graphite pencils are used for both writing and drawing and result in durable markings: though writing is easily removable with an eraser, it is otherwise resistant to moisture, most chemicals, ultraviolet radiation, and natural aging.

Charcoal pencils do exist, but are less common, and are mostly used by artists.

More Info: en.wikipedia.org

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37 Comments

Ketan Patel

Lead was used in the olden days until they realized that it was poisonous.

Cheryl Love

Ketan Patel, not true, every source I could find said they never contained lead.

Glynis Rix

Interesting! I've always heard of "lead pencils"! Now I've learned something!

janellejaworski

Oh a mixture of graphite and clay sorry my mistake.

Fleuriefirst

Why not explain how the balance of clay to graphite determines hardness with more clay being more hard eg. BB very soft HD being most common general use and HH being very hard. More either end of this scale are possible for specialist artists and draftsmen.

Take A. Guess

Carl Belken, Would have thought lead would have been quicker to a neurological or cognitive deterioration, not kidney failure ? Sorry to hear.

Carl Belken

In the late 50's my dad took me to an open house event at the new lead processing facility at Viburnum, MO. He'd been a foreman during it's construction. I recall looking at lead ore going by on a conveyor belt and wondering how many pencils it would make. I was probably 7 years old at the time. Nowadays they probably have visitors there wear HAZMAT suits but back then they thought nothing of it. Many of my relatives worked in the lead mines in what was known as the lead belt. My Grandfather died of Nephritis, a disease caused by exposure to lead.