Mixtures Case Study - Making Pencil Leads

Making Pencil Leads

How the proportions in mixtures matter

Multiple Choice

Identify the components of pencil lead

• graphite, clay

• graphite, clay, water

• graphite, clay, wax

• graphite, clay, water, wax

The proportion of substances in the lead affects how hard it is.

More graphite in the lead = darker lines

Pencil hardness + their darkness

Draw

Draw an arrow to the pencil that has equal amounts of graphite and clay

Dropdown

The pencil with double the amount of graphite as the 9H pencil is the ​

Select answer

Open Ended

At the start of the pencil-making process, graphite, clay and water are carefully mixed to produce "homogeneous" granules.

This means that each granule looks the same and has the same properties.

What do you think would happen if they weren't all 'homogenous'?