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You are here: Home / Science / What is graphite and When was graphite discovered?

What is graphite and When was graphite discovered?

May 20, 2020 by Karen Hill

Graphite is a rock—, a carbon compound that’s been used for writing since long before modern pencils were invented.

But it was an eighteenth-century geologist—, Abraham Werner, —who named the stuff graphite, from the Greek word meaning “write.”

Eventually, we figured out how to enclose the graphite in wood so our hands don’t get dirty when we write or draw with them.

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Filed Under: Science

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

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