In this experiment, let us explore how graphite can be used to power an LED bulb.
What you will need…
- Pencil (6B, or any pencil with a graphite lead)
- LED light
- wires
- battery or battery pack
- Piece of paper (preferably thick)
What you have to do…
-
Image courtesy of MaterialsProcessesUW.Blogspot.com Take one of the wires and attach it to the negative terminal on the battery. The other wire should be attached to the positive terminal on the battery (or battery pack).
- The other end of the wire attached to the negative terminal of the battery should be attached to the LED bulb.
- Use the pencil to draw a rectangle on a piece of paper that is about 3 inches long and 1 inch wide. Shade the shape in completely.
- The other end of the wire attached to the positive terminal of the battery should be attached to the graphite drawing.
- When you complete all of these connections, the LED bulb should light up.
- Try this with different shades of graphite lead. You can use different pencils with varying graphite lead and see what happens.
What you just learned…
Graphite is an effective electric conductor that you can use to complete a simple circuit. Even the thinnest layer of graphite, known as graphene, can serve just as well. Graphene is the thinnest material there is and is actually a single layer of carbon atom that has a honeycomb pattern.
The simplest way to extract graphene begins with graphite – which is actually layers and layers of graphene. To do this, you need a pencil, a sharpener or cutter, tweezers and scotch tape.
- Sharpen the pencil and separate the graphite flakes. You can also use a cutter to achieve bigger flakes.
Image courtesy of Nisenet.org - Use the tweezers to place a graphite flake on a piece of scotch tape (about 3 inches long). You can fold the two ends of the tape so you have something to hold on to.
- Fold the tape over the graphite and pull it apart again. Do this repeatedly and you will see a honeycomb like graphite on the tape. The thinnest part may even be graphene!
This quality of graphene makes it an essential material in the development of nanotechnology. Researchers and manufacturers of computer chips have been testing it to see how its semiconductor qualities can be used to develop thin and flexible electronic components.
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