Talk:Graphite

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Contents 1 Repetition 2 Second paragraph too technical 3 Crystal system? 4 Fire protection Edit 5 soot, charcoal 6 Large blocks 7 Graphite's Edibility 8 Pencils 9 Magnetism 10 Overlinking

[edit] Repetition

"Other characteristics: thin flakes are flexible but inelastic, mineral can leave black marks on hands and paper, conducts electricity." This seems rather redundant, especially since it's mentioned at the top that graphite is a conductor. And the comparison between graphite and diamond may not be strictly necessary but it reinforces my point: "Diamond is an excellent electrical insulator, but graphite is a conductor of electricity." How many times must we be told that graphite conducts electricity? Might as well add that voltage applied to a mechanical pencil lead will cause it to go white-hot and throw sparks. I hope my criticism isn't too harsh, but someone with more experience than I should consider reorganizing this page. Thanks.

I can also confirm that it has a bitter taste. User:Artman40 21:26, 6 April 2006 (EET)

[edit] Second paragraph too technical

I think the second paragraph should be moved lower, or at least reworded to be a little less technical, some people might stop reading the article if they run into something that is way out of their league. Ideas? Danny Beardsley 08:23, 13 May 2005 (UTC)

OK - restructured the article, probably needs a bit of tweaking :-) Vsmith 11:53, 13 May 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Crystal system?

The crystal system is listed as trigonal, yet on the hexagonal system page, graphite is listed as being of the hexagonal type. Is this just a case where trigonal is a subclassification of hexagonal, or which is correct? MichaelWest 12:00, 20 August 2005 (UTC)

Done - trigonal --> hexagonal. Vsmith 13:18, 20 August 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Fire protection Edit

PFP measures can rarely guarantee the total prevention of the spread of fumes. One may mitigate the spread, but that's about it. Even fire sprinklers don't prevent this. I have tested enough such systems to know. Also, in North America, there are fire door types, where the test will not have failed, if the door gaps open a bit so that flame is visible on the unexposed side. This likely has to do with the reason why closures are de-rated compared against the fire-barriers that contain them. In theory, one would not block doors with combustibles that could catch fire from a hot door where there is a fire on the other side.

[edit] soot, charcoal

should discuss soot and charcoal, which i believe are mostly graphite...

[edit] Large blocks

Where do large blocks used in reactors come from? 8-?--Light current 11:35, 28 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Graphite's Edibility

Graphite is definitely edible. This is consistent with the pencil (see Miscellaneous) page which states that graphite can be heavily consumed.

—The preceding unsigned comment was added by Chrisklerkx (talk • contribs) 18:45, 6 August 2006.

The edibility ref in the pencil article has the context of pencil lead being graphite and not toxic lead. (I removed the senseless heavily bit). On the graphite page the addition of edibility with no context is meaningless. It has no nutritional value - what is the point? Vsmith 18:56, 6 August 2006 (UTC)

That logic is terrible! Once we start removing information just because it has no immediate practical value, Wikipedia will suffer. This is not a guide to healthy eating. Graphite is edible, and that is a fact. -Chrisklerkx

An unencyclopediac fact. Sawdust and sand are edible also along with gobs of other stuff that has no nutritional value or any reason for including in an encyclopedia. Vsmith 19:45, 6 August 2006 (UTC)

Graphite's edibility is a very important fact and needs to be included, otherwise the article would be incomplete. -Chrisklerkx

See a Material Safety Data Sheet. It's relatively non-poisonous. A slight irritant in case of skin contact, ingestion, of inhalation. Toxic to upper respiratory tract. Graphite may cause gastrointestinal irritation with nausea and vomiting. — Yeah, "you can eat it" nicely summarizes all important facts on biological activity, to the highest encyclopedic standards (…not). Taken alone, in its own section even, that's an utterly pointless non-fact. Femto 20:56, 6 August 2006 (UTC)

Graphite's ediblity is a very important fact and deserves to be included. --64.88.21.11 16:42, 13 September 2006 (UTC)

Edibility is defined as anything that is non toxic to humans, not whether it has nutrients. You can get nausea and vomiting from spoiled food

and it is still edible. Therefore graphite is edible.

[edit] Pencils

Mentioned in passing in etymology part of introduction, but shouldn't there be a sentence or two in uses section? --Mongreilf 13:01, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Magnetism

I realize Graphite is non-ferous, but does anyone know if it has got any magnetic or particle-to-particle bonding properties? --Adnankash 15:41, 18 October 2006 (SHPC)

Graphite exhibits diamagnetism, it is repelled by magnetic fields. Very pronounced in pyrolytic graphite, which is quite suitable for levitation demonstrations (see diamagnetism article). Femto 15:59, 18 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Overlinking

This article has so many wikilinks it's approaching parody. Please refrain from linking things like "golf clubs" which are largely irrelevant to the matter at hand. I'll work on this more later. Chris Cunningham 10:17, 1 November 2006 (UTC)