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graphite
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graphite A blue pencil with a sharpened graphite tip lies next to a rough chunk of natural graphite, both reflected on a glossy black surface. black lead (graphite) crucible Comparison of the hexagonal structures of graphite (left)and boron nitride (right). Diagram showing atomic structures of native elements: iron as simple cubic packing of spheres, arsenic and antimony as a close-packed model, diamond as a 3D lattice, and graphite as stacked sheets with labeled cleavage planes.
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graphite
graphite Graphite, a common form (or allotrope) of carbon.

graphite

carbon
Also known as: black lead, plumbago
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•History

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...

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