Question

What is the 'lead' of a pencil made of?

• A. Clay
• B. Graphite
• C. A mixture of clay and graphite
• D. Lead metal

Answer 1

The correct option is B

Graphite

• Graphite is one of the allotropes of carbon.
• It has a layered structure in which one carbon atom is bonded with three other carbon atoms by a covalent bond forming a two-dimensional layer.
• Each layer is connected through a weak bond with the layer.
• Due to this these layers are able to slide over each other. This makes Graphite quite soft.
• So, it marks black lines on paper. Hence, Graphite is used to make pencil lead.

Hence, option (b) graphite is correct.