Some historians claim that the Austrian company painted their pencils yellow as a subtle nod to the yellow on the flag of Austria-Hungary. They were also painted yellow, which was unusual at the time. The pencils were named Koh-i-Noor after a famed Indian diamond, and they contained the world's finest graphite from the Far East. In 1889, the Hardtmuth company of Austria introduced a new line of fancy pencils at the World's Fair in Paris. WHY ARE PENCILS PAINTED YELLOW?Īccording to most stories, our pencils are yellow as a result of a clever marketing gimmick. They assumed it was some sort of lead, and the term "pencil lead" came into use-even though there wasn't any lead involved. However, early chemists weren't exactly sure what the useful gray substance actually was. When a giant graphite deposit was found in England during the 16th century, it eventually found a use as a writing implement. IF THE CENTER OF THE PENCIL HAS BEEN MADE OF GRAPHITE FOR SO LONG, WHY DO WE CALL IT "LEAD"?īlame shoddy 16th century chemistry for this one. By the middle of the 19th century, the Thoreaus were selling pencils with varying graphite hardness, which they numbered one through four. Suddenly the New England graphite could be used to make a pencil that didn't leave giant smears, and the Thoreaus' business took off. Thoreau perfected a process of using clay as a binder to make the soft, loose graphite hard and suitable for pencils. Before he wrote about civil disobedience and spent his time at Walden Pond, he worked at the family pencil company. The only problem was that New Hampshire graphite was pretty crummy it smeared and made for pretty poor pencils.Įnter a young Henry David Thoreau. When graphite was discovered in New Hampshire during the 1820s, John Thoreau and his brother-in-law Charles Dunbar built their own pencil factory. Thank Henry David Thoreau and his old man. IF THE REST OF THE WORLD USES A SYSTEM OF NUMBERS AND LETTERS TO GRADE PENCILS, WHY DO WE USE JUST NUMBERS? So it's probably best to err on the safe side and double-check your pencil type before heading into the exam. Some people do feel, however, that the harder lead in a #3 pencil makes erasing tougher and ups the chances that a stray smudge or incompletely erased mark will be read by the scanner and end up hurting your score. The general consensus seems to be that the SAT's scanners will read a #3 pencil's mark just the same as it would read one from a #2 pencil.
It's hard to get a straight answer on this question, but there are quite a few reports from people online who messed up by using the wrong grade of pencil and still did just fine on their SATs. but you're probably destined for a life of hard labor rather than college.
ACK! I USED A #3 PENCIL ON THE SAT! IS MY LIFE OVER? You'll find softer leads in pencils numbered below 2, which are popular with artists because they can help create a wider spectrum of tones than one would achieve by sticking solely to a #2 pencil. The underlying logic here is that the harder point gives the user greater control of the lead. Pencils numbered higher than 2 have harder leads and are often used by engineers, architects, and draftsmen because of their harder points. The lead is not too dark and not too light, and it's not too hard or too soft. An American #2 pencil (roughly) corresponds to an HB pencil on the rest of the world's scale. While we number our various grades of pencils in the U.S., the rest of the world uses a system of numbers and letters to describe how hard and how black a pencil's lead is. When it comes to pencils, #2s are actually the absolute middle of the road. Here are a few not-so-frequently asked questions about everyone's second-favorite writing implements, including the story of a time when pencil sharpeners were illegal. Pencils are a bit more interesting than you might, think, though. Most of us pick up pencils-and lose them-without giving them a second thought.
0 kommentar(er)
