Have you ever written your name with plumbago?
Plumbago is another name for Graphite.
In 1564 a special deposit of graphite was found near Borrowdale, Cumbria, England. This deposit turned out to be so pure and solid that it could be sawed thin square sticks. The people of that area discovered that the graphite was useful for marking sheep. At the time the material was called plumbago, or that which acts (writes) like lead. Word spread pretty quickly about how useful this material was for writing.
Later the Italians came up with a way to put the graphite sticks between two pieces of wood . Graphite is also used in stove polish, in paint and as a lubricant. Its one of the things used to lubricate nuclear power plants.
Other names for Graphite include Black Lead, Graphito, Pencil Ore and even Crayon.
(Plumbago is also the name for a type of plant but that’s another story.)
This Q&A by Hillori Mitchell
A few years ago Hillori was sharing some fun bits of science trivia with friends when one of them told her, "You're just too smart!" A couple weeks later Just2Smart.com was born.
A quick weekly message with the latests science Q&A's. Fun to read and share.
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