Science & Tech
graphite
carbon
Also known as: black lead, plumbago
graphite
Category:
Science & Tech
- Also called:
- plumbago or black lead
- Key People:
- Edward Goodrich Acheson
- Joseph Dixon
- Related Topics:
- carbon
- graphene
- native element
- cliftonite
- allotrope
graphite, mineral consisting of carbon. Graphite has a greasy feel and leaves a black mark, thus the name from the Greek verb graphein, “to write.” Graphite has a layered structure that consists of rings of six carbon atoms arranged in widely spaced horizontal sheets. Graphite thus crystallizes in the hexagonal system, in contrast to diamond, another form of carbon, that crystallizes in the octahedral or tetrahedral system. Such pairs of differing forms of the same element usually are rather similar in their physical properties, but not so in this case. Graphite is dark gray to black, opaque, and very soft ...(100 of 564 words)