HassaanKhan

ChemicalCompoundReport

Therearemanychemicalsthatareusedineitherthemanufacturingprocessof
pencils,orpartofthepencilitself.However,themostimportantpartofthepencilisthelead,
whichisactuallynotmadeoflead,butratherofgraphite,despitethename.Inoldentimes,
graphitewasusedbyitself,withoutanyoftheotherpartsofthepencil,suchasthewood
casinganderaser.Thisshowsthattheleadisthefundamentalcomponentofthepencil,and
thattheothersareonlytheretofacilitatetheprocessofwriting.
Graphiteisablack,softmineral,at1to2ontheMohsscale(ascalethatmeasures
hardnessofamaterial,1beingthesoftest,and10beingthehardest).Itistheonlynonmetal
elementthatconductselectricitywell.ThechemicalformulaforgraphiteisjustC,sinceitis
composedsolelyofcarbonatoms.Thischemicalformulaisthesameasthatofdiamond,but
thestructureofthetwoisentirelydifferent.Ingraphite,theatomsareplacesinsheets,sothat
theycanslideoffseparatelythisiswhatmakesitsosoft.Ontheotherhand,indiamond,all
atomsareinterconnected,whichiswhatmakesitsotough.Therearemanyothernamesof
graphite,whichincludebutarenotpertainingto:blacklead,plumbago,grafito,andpencilore.

Fromthisstructuraldiagram,itisapparentthatgraphiteis
layeredasflatlayers(sheets)ofhexagonalringsstackedoneach
other.Asmentionedearlier,thisiswhatallowswritingtobepossible.
Separatelayersbeingremovedfromtheleadiswhatcauseswriting
tooccur.Thebondsbetweenlayersisweakandcontainsloose
electrons,explainingwhygraphitecanconductelectricityandheat.
Also,thecovalentbondsbetweenthecarbonatomsinonelayerare
verystrongsothatwhatiswrittendoesnotbreakapartandresultin
thewritingnotbeingreadable.

Becausegraphite(purecarbon)hasfourvalenceelectrons,itcanformcompounds
withalmosteverysingleotheratom.Justoneoftheplentifulreactionsofgraphitewithanother
chemicaliswhenitreactswithoxygenintheairtoproducecarbondioxide.Thisreactioncan
berepresentedwiththiswordequation:

Graphite+oxygengascarbondioxide(Winter,n.d.)

Thisreactioncanbeidentifiedasasynthesisreaction,becausethegraphite(C)
combineswiththeoxygengas(O2),whichyieldscarbondioxide(CO2).
Anotherreactioninvolvinggraphiteisonewheregraphitereactswithwatertoproduce
carbonmonoxideandhydrogengas.Thisequationcanbeshownas:

Graphite+watercarbonmonoxide+hydrogengas(Winter,n.d.)


Inthiscase,thereactionisanexampleofasingledisplacementreaction,sincethe
carboninthegraphiteisswitchingwiththehydrogeninthewater,formingcarbonmonoxide,
andleavingoutthehydrogengas.
Becausegraphiteissounreactive,itcanbestoredinvirtuallyanyenvironment.The
onlycircumstancewhereitwouldbeproblematicwouldbewhenitisstoredinhigh
temperatures,especiallyover800C,whereitisveryreactivewiththegasesaroundit.
However,theseconditionsarerarelyseeninthelifecycleofnaturalgraphite,andwhenthey
are,workershandlingthegraphiteensurethattheutmostsecurityisattained.Onewaythis
canbeachievedisbyeliminatingallthegasesthatitcanreactwith,likeoxygeninother
words,areactivegasfreeenvironmentissimulated.
Useinpencilsisnottheonlywaygraphiteisutilized.Ithascountlessotheruses,allof
whichareveryusefulinourdailylives.First,sincegraphitehasaslipperynature,itcan
reducethefrictionbetweenpartsinamachine,thereforeitactsasadrylubricantinmachines
parts.Also,consideringthatithasahighmeltingpoint,isresistanttochemicals,andisa
goodconductorofheat,itisusedtomakecrucibles.Lastly,graphiteisusedisinsome
electrodes,seeingthatitisagoodconductor.(Dutta,n.d.)
Takingpencilsasanexample,manypeoplechoosetojustthrowoutthepencil,
includinggraphite,inthetrash.Thismethodisnotfine,asitisexpensivetosendgraphiteto
thelandfills.Allofthatgraphiteisnotusedtoitspotential,andwasted.Thereisabetterway
todisposeofgraphite,andthatwayisrecycling.Themainreason,asistruewiththe
recyclingofallproducts,isthatitreducestheamountoftrashthatgoestolandfills,therefore
cuttingdownonthepollutionproduced.Morepeopledumpinggraphiteinthetrashresultsin
morepollution,andinturn,speedsupglobalwarmingandotherrelatedproblems.
Manypeoplebelievethatgraphiteminingisharmless,sinceitispurecarbon,whichis
nontoxic.However,thetruthisthatitsmininghascausedconsiderableimpactonthe
environment,anditcanpossiblyleadtocatastrophiceffectsifpreventivemeasuresarenot
puttoaction.Firstofall,graphitemininginvolvesusingexplosivestoexposethegraphite.
Theamountofexplosivesusedusuallyexceedswhatisneeded,thusdamagingunintended
areasaswell,andalsoreleasingdustintotheair,causingairpollution.Furthermore,thiscan
affectthehealthoftheworkersandpeoplelivinginthevicinity.Inaddition,graphitepowder
spillagescancausesoilcontamination.Theactualaspectofundergroundmininghasa
separatesetofnegativeeffects.Byemptyingthefissuresintherock,waterisabletoseep
throughthem,eventuallyleadingtomassivelandslidesthatcandestroytheentirearea.
(Maliq,2011)
Inordertoavoidtheseharmfulimpacts,theminingwillhavetobedoneaftercareful
planningandthoughtisgiventothetopic.Also,thelandusedforminingwillhavetobe
restored,asmuchaspossible,toitsoriginalstate,inordertobringbackthebalance.Extra
attentionshouldbegivenregardingthechemicalsandexplosivesused,andthewastes
generated.Bytakingtheseprecautions,graphiteminingwillbemoreenvironmentalfriendly
thaneverbefore.
Inconclusion,graphiteisoneofthemostvaluableresourcesintheworldbecauseof
itsplentifuluses.Despiteitalsobeingmoreenvironmentallyfriendlythantheminingofother

resources,itisstillpossiblydangerous,andshouldbegiventhoughtto,sothatthemaximum
ecofriendlinessisachieved.Effortinvestednowwillhaveunperceivableresultsinthefuture.