Two or three times I've read a story in which someone uses the graphite in a golf club to block Kryptonite radiation, and I've thought "What????"

After some thought I've realised that that the error comes from the idea that pencils use lead. Since pencil lead is made from grapite, there's an idea that graphite contains lead. It's a natural assumption, but it's wrong.

Graphite is actually a form of pure carbon, with the molecules arranged a little differently from diamond. The difference means that molecules break off fairly easily, so that graphite is transferred from the pencil to the paper as you write.

Pencil leads really were made of lead until 1500-ish. Around then a big deposit of graphite (at that time believed to be a form of lead) was found in Cumbria, England, and tried as an alternative. That was the only large deposit of pure graphite ever found, and pencils from that source were simply long shards of it. By the 1670s pencils were being made of graphite from other sources, purified, crushed, and made into sticks. They were still a bit toxic because of the other ingredients, but even then there was little or no actual lead in them. Today the toxic ingredients are pretty much gone, a pencil lead is just graphite and clay baked to make a solid stick. Things like the proportions and baking method determine pencil hardness,

So... pencil lead isn't lead, and none of the other things that graphite is used for, e.g. fishing rods, golf clubs, etc., contain any lead at all. They wouldn't be any use in blocking Kryptonite radiation.

Hope someone finds this useful.

Hi Marcus,

I'm not sure how useful I will find it, but I do find it fascinating. I am discovering that this MB is more educational than I ever would have dreamt.

Thanks for posting this information.

Joy,
Lynn

Glad you are enjoying it Lynn. There's a wide variety of experts here. Marcus is right.
Graphite is now being used in composites in airplane parts, most notably the wings. It is also starting to be used in missiles, where weight saving is also very important. It's lighter and stronger than aluminum.

Artemis

Does that mean that I can chew on my pencil now without a fear of dropping over dead?

ML

@MLT: Pretty much. LoL.

@ML: But, in regards to the extended author-safety-program, you still need to take care not to choke on chewed-off bits and pieces.

Michael

PS: Just had a thought: Green and red Kryptonite mixed into pencils would make for great read-in-the-dark writing materials. And the red-glowing pencils could even be used for writing a love-letter to Superman

@Michael: That's a plot-bunny if I ever saw one. lol.

Guys, can Superman's vision be blocked by lead alloys or just pure lead does the trick?

Well, the whole lead-blocks-X-ray-vision idea is based on the fact that lead blocks X-rays. Since lead alloys should block X-rays to some extent depending on their lead content, it's safe to assume Clark couldn't see through lead alloys, either. This plot bunny has been used occasionally, where he cannot see through things painted with lead paint.

To be accurate, though, there are two facts to mention:
1) Lead is not the only substance to block X-rays and/or radiation, although in the Superman-universe, it's the only stuff he cannot see through and which can block kryptonite radiation.
2) Clark's X-ray vision doesn't have anything to do with X-rays, or he wouldn't be able to literally see colored images through walls.

Marcus' point was that there is no lead (the element) at all in graphite or lead pencils. It's called lead, but it isn't.

Artemis

In Swedish, a pencil is called a "blyertspenna". "Bly" means "lead", "penna" means "something you write with" and "-erts" means nothing, as far as I know. But this means that Swedes call a pencil a "lead-erts pen", suggesting, like Marcus said, that it contains lead. It clearly doesn't, and we Swedes ought to shape up and call this writing tool a "grafitpenna", a graphite pen.



No lead here!

Ann

@Ann: Swedish sounds so musical, from the words you mentioned. As for renaming the pencil, that might take some time.

@Lara: thanks for the info about lead alloys. i'll keep that in mind.

Guys, does anyone know about lead crystals? Is it like glass? I've read mention of it in a couple of fics already, of it being used as paneling -- transparent paneling. I always thought lead was opaque.

Lead crystal is just cut lead glass. It's definitely not opaque, contains a significant percentage of lead, and is used for radiation shielding, aside from household usages such as glasses and decoratively cut figures, etc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead_crystal

So, yeah, Clark's lead-glasses sure stop his x-ray vision if we go by canon.

Michael

Does it say in the canon that his glasses have lead in them? I've seen plenty of fanfic indicating that to be the case, but I don't recall it ever being mentioned on the show.

Joy,
Lynn

@Michael: oh, I see. Thanks for the info! ^_^

@Lynn: nope, it's not mentioned at all.

Well, it was definitely mentioned that Clark wore his glasses to control his special vision. If it didn't affect him, he wouldn't have to pull them down his nose to see with his special vision.

Artemis

Not necessarily. It could be that he is protecting his glasses; perhaps his special vision could damage them. They are, after all, mere inches from his eyes; if he is emitting some form of radiation when using his special vision, the lenses would be receiving a very concentrated dose. And since we don't know what wavelengths are being discussed, or what their precise properties are, who is to say?

Joy,
Lynn

@Lynn: and it'd look way funny if his glasses suddenly had holes bored into them. lol! Lois would do a double-take so fast, she'd get whiplash.

I don't remember it every being said on the show that his glasses were leaded glass, but it has occurred in fanfiction. I think it also occurred in the comics, but I can't quite remember. My memory is awful these days. I kind of think that he is protecting the glasses, as mentioned above.

Lead crystal is the type of crystal that pings and gives you a lovely bell tone when lightly tapped with a spoon. Hand blown glass crystal does not do that. Oh, the things that you learn when you sell Princess House Crystal. I did that once upon a time.

I only remember reading one story about golf clubs. It was by Irene Dutch - Solar Eclipse . Even though I knew there was no lead in the golf club, I thought she pulled it off brilliantly. But I just re-read that part of it and she doesn't even mention any lead - only that it may help as barrier to give Jon Kent a bit of time to recover. It's an excellent story.

Are there other stories about golf clubs being used to fend off kryptonite?

@Classicalla: Not that I've read. And I agree, Irene Dutch's work rocks. I love Nightwind, Starfire, and Sunstorm. I wish she had pictures of them.

It's really interesting though, lead in golf clubs. I think that was pretty ingenuous, if not accurate. XD

I'm pretty sure I've come across it two or three times - but it may be I've seen the same story more than once.

@Ann: A lead pencil is called exactly that in German, too. (Okay, so using the German terms for lead and pencil, written as one word: Bleistift.) I checked back with an online dictionary, and found that neither French, Spanish nor Italian call a pencil anything lead-related, though.