graphite

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pencil with graphite

black lead (graphite)

Comparison of the hexagonal structures of graphite (left)and boron nitride (right).

Figure 9: Structures of some native elements. (A) Close-packed model of simple cubic packing of equal spheres, as shown by iron. Each sphere is surrounded by eight closest neighbours. (B) Close-packed model of the structure of arsenic and antimony. Flat areas represent overlap between adjoining atoms. (C) Partial representation of the structure of diamond. (D) The structure of graphite with sheets perpendicular to the c axis.

Discover

The Lost Colony of Roanoke, North Carolina, where 115 people mysteriously disappeared c. 1590. John White discovers the word Croatoan carved onto a tree upon his return to the deserted Roanoke Colony in 1590

The Lost Colony of Roanoke

Secret Service Agent Listens To Earpiece

Secret Service Code Names of 11 U.S. Presidents

earthquake. Heavily damaged school in the town of Yingxiu after a major earthquake struck China's Sichuan Province on May 12, 2008.

The 6 Deadliest Earthquakes Since 1950

Young man skeet shooting with airborne shell

6 Unusual Olympic Sports

bird. mourning dove. pigeon and dove. Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) family Columbidae.

Nikola Tesla's Weird Obsession with Pigeons

Parsons Weems' Fable, oil on canvas by Grant Wood, 1939; in the Amon Carter Museum of American Art. Catalog entry: The historian Mason Locke Weems, commonly known by his clerical title, Parson Weems, pulls back a curtain to point at 6-year-old George Washington. Bearing an adult head and holding an axe, George gazes blankly up at his father, Augustine, who questions his son while holding a partially cut cherry tree. All of this takes place in front of a 20th-century brick building, which Wood modeled after his own home in Iowa. The scene illustrates the fable of Washington and the cherry tree, which Weems invented in 1806 for the first president's biography. Wood playfully suggests the artifice of the tale here, presenting the story in the manner of a costumed stage play rather than a real event. Amid the action, two Black figures pick cherries in the background, a reference to Washington' slaveholding past and a reminder of of what often gets left out in historical mythmaking.

Did George Washington Really Say, “I Can’t Tell a Lie”?

The Colosseum, Rome, Italy. Giant amphitheatre built in Rome under the Flavian emperors. (ancient architecture; architectural ruins)

New Seven Wonders of the World

graphite: Facts & Related Content

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Facts

Also Known As	black lead • plumbago

Photos

pencil with graphite

black lead (graphite)

Comparison of the hexagonal structures of graphite (left)and boron nitride (right).

Figure 9: Structures of some native elements. (A) Close-packed model of simple cubic packing of equal spheres, as shown by iron. Each sphere is surrounded by eight closest neighbours. (B) Close-packed model of the structure of arsenic and antimony. Flat areas represent overlap between adjoining atoms. (C) Partial representation of the structure of diamond. (D) The structure of graphite with sheets perpendicular to the c axis.

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Topics

cliftonite carbon graphene native element allotrope sulfur fullerene zinc iron lead arsenic gold copper selenium carbon nanotube

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Key People

Acheson, Edward Goodrich

Edward Goodrich Acheson

American inventor

Joseph Dixon

American inventor