How does a Pencil write?

Summary

Who Smarted? – How Does a Pencil Write?

Podcast: Who Smarted? (Atomic Entertainment / Starglow Media)
Host: Adam Tex Davis and Characters
Date: September 8, 2025

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Episode Overview

In this lively episode of "Who Smarted?", host Adam Tex Davis and a cast of humorous characters embark on an engaging deep dive into the everyday object you find in every classroom: the pencil. The show unpacks surprising facts about pencils—including their true composition, the legend behind "pencil lead," the origins of their yellow color, why "Number 2" pencils are everywhere, and the curious history of erasers—all mixed with kid-friendly humor, interactive questions, and plenty of memorable lines.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Pencil Popularity and Common Misconceptions

• Fun Fact: Over 14 billion pencils are manufactured each year—enough to circle the Earth 62 times! [00:45]
• Opening Joke: Kids are asked to guess what the "long yellow thing in your backpack or desk" is. (Hint: Not a banana!) [00:50]
• Main Myth: Kids often think pencils contain “lead”—but they never have. [01:30; 04:46]

2. Historical Origins of Writing Tools

• Ancient Writing: From stone carvings (hieroglyphics) to quills and styluses. [03:01]
• The Roman Stylus: The stylus, often made of lead, is called the ancestor of the pencil. [03:44]
• How the Lead Myth Began: Early pencil users mistook graphite for lead due to its dark appearance. [05:32]

3. The Real Stuff Inside a Pencil

• Graphite, Not Lead:
  • Host: "The truth is, pencils have never contained real lead. So the answer is C. Hogwash." [05:21]
  • Discovered in England in 1564, this “dark treasure” was used by shepherds to mark sheep.
• What Is Graphite?
  • Graphite is a form of pure carbon discovered in the 1700s. [07:40]
  • Diamond and graphite are both carbon, but with different atomic structures. [08:06]

4. Why Are Pencils Yellow?

• The Yellow Craze:
  • In the late 1800s, the Hartmut company in Czechia launched a golden-yellow "luxury pencil" to signify quality and associations with Asian royalty. [09:00]
  • The “Koh-I-Noor” pencil was named after the famous Asian diamond.
  • Because others copied the yellow color, yellow pencils eventually became the standard. [09:48]

5. How Do Pencils Work?

• Atomic Structure:
  • Diamonds: Carbon atoms locked in a strong, pyramidal lattice ("unbreakable").
  • Graphite: Carbon atoms in sheets that slide off on paper, making marks easily. [10:14]
• Single Pencil, Long Journey:
  • A pencil can draw a line over 700 miles long—about 2.5 times the Grand Canyon’s length. [10:57]

6. The “Number 2” Mystery

• Pencil Hardness Ratings:
  • Developed in 1795, mixing graphite with clay made pencils softer or harder.
  • Numbering system indicates softness:
    • #1: Too soft and smudgy
    • #3/#4: Too hard and light
    • #2: “Just right”—dark enough for bubble sheets, without too much smudging [12:50]

7. Erasers: Bread to “Rubber”

• Surprising Start:
  • People once used bread to erase pencil marks! [14:59]
• Modern Eraser:
  • In 1770, gum from South American trees was discovered to work better; now called "rubber." You probably have one on your pencil. [15:28]

8. Silly Pencil World Records

• Noteworthy Feats:
  • Snapping 102 pencils in a minute [16:15]
  • Karate-chopping 164 pencils [16:18]
  • Owning the world’s largest pencil collection: over 24,000 pencils [16:23]
  • Middle schoolers stacking a 419-pencil-story tower [16:27]
  • Definition: A "pencil story" is built by layering two pencils across two others, like Jenga. [16:35]

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• Host (Adam Tex Davis):

  • "Yes, it's called lead, but it's not lead at all." [01:36]
  • “The truth is, pencils have never contained real lead. So the answer is C. Hogwash.” [05:21]
  • “Believe it or not, pencils and diamonds are made of the same stuff.” [08:12]

• Shepherd Character (storyteller):

  • “You try counting your sheep without marking them. One, two, three..." [06:08]
  • “I could keep track of me sheep and keep from falling asleep. 4, 5, 6. 4, 5, 6. Huh? What?” [06:16]
  • “Hogwash. Of course it's leadin’. It is a wee bit soft and brittle. Kept breakin’ apart on us. So we wrapped it in sheepskin...” [06:44]

• Royal Pencil Character:

  • “Ooh, like the jewels in my necklace. Don’t I look fabulous, darling?” [09:30]
  • “Ooh, these cheap pencils are leaving a mark on my neck.” [10:03]

• Host (Adam Tex Davis):

  • “A single pencil can draw a line longer than 700 miles. That's two and a half times as long as the Grand Canyon.” [10:57]
  • “People once used bread to erase pencil marks.” [14:59]

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Notable Timestamps

• 00:45 – Billions of pencils produced; circling the Earth 62 times
• 03:01 – Early writing tools: hieroglyphics, wax tablets, quills
• 05:21 – The “pencil lead” myth debunked
• 07:40 – Graphite is pure carbon; related to diamonds
• 08:06 – Pencil graphite and diamonds: both carbon, but with different structures
• 09:00-09:48 – Why pencils are yellow & the “Koh-I-Noor” connection
• 10:14 – The science of how graphite works on paper
• 10:57 – One pencil can write a line over 700 miles long
• 12:50 – Hardness ratings: why #2 pencils are standard
• 14:59 – From bread to erasers: the invention of "rubber"
• 16:15-16:35 – World records: snapping, karate-chopping, collecting, and stacking pencils

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Episode Tone & Engagement

The episode is fast-moving, playful, and packed with trivia. Characters like the "historical shepherd" and "royal pencil" add theatrical flair and drive punchlines home, while the host maintains a warm, interactive style—constantly addressing “smartypants” (listeners) with questions and affirmations. The narrative blends humor and genuine curiosity, making learning memorable.

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For Listeners & Educators

This episode is a prime choice for engaging young learners (and adults!) in STEM and history, providing not just fascinating facts but also model ways to challenge assumptions and dig deeper into everyday objects. Teachers can use the historical context, true/false questions, and science tidbits as springboards for classroom discussion or activities.

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Summary prepared to enrich, not replace, the fun of listening to the full podcast.

Transcript

[Host (Adam Tex Davis)]

Hey, smartypants, quick question. When do you most like listening to who Sparted? Is it before bed, On a car ride, at breakfast, or when you're on a roller coaster? No matter what you said, that's a great answer, because anytime's a great time to smart along to who Smarted. Although a roller coaster might be a little loud, that also includes school time. Whether you're on your way to school, listening with your teacher, in class, at home school, or on recess, or snack time, who Smarted is honored to be a part of your learning experience. And speaking of school, today, we're talking about something you probably use in school every day. It's that long yellow thing in your backpack or desk. Knock, knock. What? Who's there? Banana? No, not a banana. I'm talking about something you use to write with. You know, there's a dark point on one end and a pink thing on the other. Smartypants, are you all shouting out pencil? I thought so. And you're right. Did you know over 14 billion pencils are made each year? That's enough to circle the Earth 62 times.

[Co-host or Mission Control]

This is Mission Control to Orbital 1. You can stop orbiting the Earth now. Our pencil experiment is completed.

[Host (Adam Tex Davis)]

Phew.

[Co-host or Mission Control]

Thank goodness. 62 times. I'm dizzy.

[Host (Adam Tex Davis)]

But despite there being so many pencils and you using a pencil nearly every day, how much do you really know about pencils? Take that gray material in the center. You know the part that makes marks on your paper? What's that made of, smarty pants? Are you all shouting out lead right now? I thought so. There's just one problem. You're wrong. Yes, it's called lead, but it's not lead at all. So why is that? Why are most pencils yellow and marked with the number two? And just how high can you stack them before they topple over? It's time for another whiff of science and history on hello, Smarted.

[Co-host or Mission Control]

Who's smarted? Who's smart? Is it you? Is it me? Is it science or history? Listen up, everyone. We make smarting lots of fun. But who's smart?

[Host (Adam Tex Davis)]

And this show is sponsored by Better Help Parents. Be honest. Who do you usually turn to when life feels overwhelming? Your group chat? The barista who remembers your coffee order? Or maybe that other parent you met in the school pickup line? I know because I do the same thing. And look, they're great to talk with, but let's face it, they're not trained to help with stress, anxiety, or those bigger questions that keep us up at night. That's where BetterHelp comes in BetterHelp is the world's largest online therapy platform with over 30,000 licensed therapists who are trained and credentialed to actually help you work through life's challenges. For more than 10 years, they've been helping people find their right match. And with a 4.9 rating from 1.7 million reviews, chances are you're gonna find yours, too. Getting started is easy. Just fill out a quick questionnaire and BetterHelp does the matching work for you. And if your therapist isn't the right fit, you can switch anytime at no extra cost. How awesome is that? So find the one. With BetterHelp, our listeners get 10% off the first month at betterhelp.com WhoSmarted that's betterhelp.com WhoSmarted since ancient times, people have found ways to write things down. Many early writings were images carved in stone known as what? Emojis? Wingdings, or hieroglyphics. That's right, smarty pants. Hieroglyphics. When ancient people weren't carving hieroglyphics, they were drawing on wax tablets or early forms of paper. Some ancient Romans used something called a quill, which was a feather from a large bird dipped in ink for writing. But the quill wasn't the only writing utensil ancient Romans used. There was another one called a stylus, which historians describe as the ancestor of the pencil. The stylus was a thin rod that could leave light marks on early paper smartypants. Do you know what metal Romans used to make a stylus? Is it A copper, B lead, or C aluminum? The answer is B lead.

[Shepherd Character (historical storyteller)]

Ooh, just like the material in a pencil.

[Host (Adam Tex Davis)]

Except that's not really lead.

[Shepherd Character (historical storyteller)]

It's not?

[Host (Adam Tex Davis)]

No, smarty pants. Take a guess. Why don't today's pencils contain actual lead? Is it A, lead is a dangerous substance that can make people sick, B, the material in pencils writes better, or C pencils have never contained real lead. Well, while lead is a dangerous substance that can make people sick, and pencils do write better than true lead, those are not the reasons why pencils today don't contain that metal. The truth is, pencils have never contained real lead. So the answer is C. Hogwash.

[Shepherd Character (historical storyteller)]

Me pencils do have lead. Me discover it meself.

[Host (Adam Tex Davis)]

Ah, yes, you must be one of the Englishmen who found some of the original lead, so called pencil lead.

[Shepherd Character (historical storyteller)]

Aye, that we did. Or so the legend goes. The year was 1564 and I was out tending me sheep in the valley in Borrowdale, England. When me friends and I discovered a bunch of trees had been knocked down in a storm. And we spotted treasure neath the roots of those trees. A shiny black substance which we realized was some sort of magical darker lead.

[Host (Adam Tex Davis)]

Except it's not lead at all.

[Shepherd Character (historical storyteller)]

BA it looked like lead, it wrote like lead. And there was a lot of it too. We shepherds started using it to mark our sheep.

[Host (Adam Tex Davis)]

You used it to mark sheep? Heh.

[Shepherd Character (historical storyteller)]

You try counting your sheep without marking them. One, two, three.

[Host (Adam Tex Davis)]

Excuse me.

[Shepherd Character (historical storyteller)]

I'm awake. I'm awake. Not only does counting sheep put you to sleep, you don't know which ones you've already counted because they all look alike and they keep moving around. But with this darker lead, I could keep track of me sheep and keep from falling asleep. 4, 5, 6. 4, 5, 6. Huh? What?

[Host (Adam Tex Davis)]

I get that. But the fact remains, it's not really lead.

[Shepherd Character (historical storyteller)]

Hogwash. Of course it's leading. It is a wee bit soft and brittle. Kept breaking apart on us. So we wrapped it in sheepskin to keep it together. And then some others made rods of it wrapped in string. Apparently, some folks in Italy came up with the idea of creating a hole in a stick and putting the lead inside it. And by Jove, it worked. Some Germans ran with the idea and started making lots of wooden pencils for everyone to write with. About a hundred years after we found the magical lead.

[Host (Adam Tex Davis)]

Cool story. It's still not leading, but that's what.

[Shepherd Character (historical storyteller)]

We all call it.

[Host (Adam Tex Davis)]

And that's why you might call it lead today. Smarty pants. The name stuck, even though it's scientifically wrong. Smarty pants, do you know what mineral actually is inside a pencil? Is it graphite, vegemite, or chalk? If you said graphite, you're right. And if you know what vegemite is, you're probably listening in the UK or Australia.

[Shepherd Character (historical storyteller)]

Gide My.

[Host (Adam Tex Davis)]

In the 1700s, scientists discovered that the graphite in pencils is actually a type of carbon. So definitely not lead. You can BA all you want, but it's a completely different chemical element. Smarty pants, guess what other object is a type of pure carbon? A, rocks, B, diamonds, or C, sponges?

[Co-host or Mission Control]

These.

[Host (Adam Tex Davis)]

The answer is B. Believe it or not, pencils and diamonds are made of the same stuff.

[Shepherd Character (historical storyteller)]

Whoa.

[Host (Adam Tex Davis)]

Of course, most diamonds are usually whitish, while pencils are. Well, what color, smarty pants, are you shouting out? Yellow. Thought so. And yes, most pencils are yellow. But why? Believe it or not, the color yellow actually represents something. Is it A, quality, B, geography, or C, royalty? Smarty pants, if you picked a quality you're right. But if you picked geography or royalty, you're also right. Back in the late 1800s, the best pencils were not painted. But a Czech manufacturing company called Hartmut Pencil changed that when it introduced what it called a luxury pencil. Its golden color was meant to show that this pencil was of superior quality. The yellow also represented the geography of the pencil's graphite. By this time, the best graphite was coming from Asia, near China. And Chinese royalty also liked to associate with that golden yellow color. Hartmut named its pencil Koh I Noor, after the massive diamond from Asia that is part of the British Crown Jewels.

[Royal Pencil Character]

Ooh, like the jewels in my necklace. Don't I look fabulous, darling?

[Host (Adam Tex Davis)]

Um, you just connected a bunch of pencils with string and tied it around your neck.

[Royal Pencil Character]

Yes, but they are yellow royal pencils made from the same stuff as diamonds.

[Host (Adam Tex Davis)]

Right. Unfortunately, yellow pencils no longer indicate the highest quality. After the Koh I Noor pencil came out, other pencil makers simply copied Heartmut and painted their pencils yellow, too. So now yellow pencils are pretty much everywhere.

[Royal Pencil Character]

Ooh, these cheap pencils are leaving a mark on my neck.

[Host (Adam Tex Davis)]

That's kind of what pencils are for, leaving marks.

[Royal Pencil Character]

But you said they were like diamonds.

[Host (Adam Tex Davis)]

I said the graphite in pencils is a form of carbon, just like diamonds. But the carbon that makes graphite is shaped differently than the carbon of diamonds. The tiniest parts of a diamond. Its carbon atoms are tightly arranged in a pyramid, making a diamond strong, dazzling, and unbreakable. Graphite's carbon atoms are structured in sheets. When you rub graphite on paper, the sheets easily slide off, making a mark. And because the graphite mark is is so thin, you could do a lot of writing with just one pencil. One mathematician estimated a single pencil can draw a line longer than 700 miles. That's two and a half times as long as the Grand Canyon.

[Co-host or Mission Control]

This is Mission control to Canyon 1. You can start your single pencil drawing experiment in 3, 2, 1.

[Host (Adam Tex Davis)]

And speaking of numbers, you might have noticed or heard of the infamous number two pencil, but what does that number mean? The answer is right after this quick break. WhoSmarted is brought to you by Squarespace. Now, you know I'm good about creating new adventures and episodes of Whosmarted, but you don't know that I procrastinate on other stuff, like a website for one of our new projects. Oops. When the website builder Squarespace reached out about sponsoring Whosmarted, I decided to test it out. And now I feel silly for putting off building that website. Squarespace's blueprint AI thing literally built me a custom website in minutes. I just told it a few details about the project and boom. It generated everything. And everything you need is right there. I can schedule guest interviews, send email campaigns, even sell merch, all from one dashboard. Now it's your turn to stop procrastinating and start building. You can use Squarespace to launch that business site or any site that you've been dreaming about. But putting off today? There's no excuse anymore. Especially since you can head to squarespace.com smarted for a free trial. And when you're ready to launch, you can use code smarted to save 10% on your first purchase of a website or domain. That's squarespace.com this episode is sponsored by IXL. Look, I know back to school looks a little different when you're a homeschool family because maybe you're keeping up with your year round rhythm, or maybe you're starting fresh with new plans and goals. Either way, it is the perfect time to reset, refresh and find tools that make life easier. That's where IXL comes in. IXL is an award winning online learning platform that covers math, language arts, science and social studies from Pre K through 12th grade. It adjusts to your child's level, giving them just the right challenge at the right time. So learning feels motivating, not overwhelming. And what I love about IXL is how effortless it makes homeschooling. Everything is organized by grade and topic, so instead of hunting for lessons, you can jump straight into exactly what your child needs. And the real time feedback is a game changer when kids make a mistake, IXL explains instantly helping them learn and move forward with confidence. Plus, you can see their progress at a glance with detailed reports. Over 15 million students use IXL and more than 75 studies show that it really works. So make an impact on your child's learning. Get IXL today. WhoSmarted listeners get an exclusive 20% off when you sign [e-mail] WhoSmarted. That's ixl.com WhoSmarted now back to WhoSmarted Smarty Pants. If your pencil is from the United States, you probably have a number on it, perhaps the number two. But do you know what that number means? Does it have to do with the pencil's quality, the color, or the softness? If you guessed softness, you're right. Back in 1795, a French engineer found a way to improve low quality graphite by mixing it with clay. Different combinations made softer or harder pencil lead and the softer combinations made darker marks. The number system was later created to label a pencil softness for students. Number one pencils are too soft and smudge easily. Number three and number four pencils are too hard, so they don't make dark enough marks, especially on answer forms known as bubble sheets, where you have to fill in a multiple choice. But number two pencils are just right. They make nice dark marks without smudging too much.

[Royal Pencil Character]

Well, now I have number two pencil smudged all over my neck.

[Host (Adam Tex Davis)]

No problem. You can get rid of that with a little bread. Bread? Yep. People once used bread to erase pencil marks. That is until around 1770. That's when a type of gum from trees in South America was was discovered to be a better eraser. Smartypants, do you know what this gum is called? Here's a To erase a pencil mark, you use this gum to rub it out. That's how this substance got its name. Smarty pants, are you calling out rubber? Thought so and you're right. Chances are you have some version of a rubber eraser at the non writing end of your pencil. Of course, while pencils are mostly used for writing, some people have used them for more silly things like setting world records. A man from Brooklyn set a record by snapping 102 pencils within one minute while another person took a minute to karate chop a record 164pencils. If you like collecting pencils, you can try breaking the record for one world's largest pencil collection, which contains over 24,000 pencils. Or maybe you and your classmates or friends or family want to make a pencil tower. A group of middle school girls set a pencil stacking record in 2017 by building a tower 419 pencil stories high before it all came crashing down. Oh, and for anyone wondering, a pencil story is made by laying two pencils across two other pencils and then alternating. Kind of like Jenga.

[Shepherd Character (historical storyteller)]

419 pencil stories. That's a lot of pencil counting. I'd rather count shape. 1, 2, 3.

[Host (Adam Tex Davis)]

A triple smarty shout out to Carter, Beckham and Jace in Harriman, Utah. We hear you learn about all the cool things while getting ready for bed. Now that is some top notch nighttime smarting. Thanks for listening you three. This episode Pencils was written by Dave Beaudry and voiced by Adam Tex Davis, Max Kamasky, Jason Williams, Charlotte Cohn and Jerry Colbert. Technical direction and sound design by Josh Hahn. Who's Smart is recorded and mixed at the Relic Room Studios. Our associate producer is Max Kamasky. The the theme song is by Brian Suarez, with lyrics written and performed by Adam Tex Davis. Who Smarted was created and produced by Adam Tex Davis and Jerry Colber. This has been an Atomic Entertainment production.