ELIF: What’s the difference between a number 2 pencil and a pencil that isn’t labeled number 2? And if number 2s are almost always required why not just only make number 2 pencils?
In: Engineering
There are many types of pencil. Where i come from we use the HB names but i imagine its very similar.
A HB pencil is medium hardness. Then it goes 1H, 2H, 3H with each one getting harder. Or 1B 2B 3B with each getting softer.
Harder pencils produce finer lines. Harder is better for fine light lines often used in construction lines.
Softer pencils produce thicker, darker lines used for shading.
The hardness is one factor of the pencil, but #2 pencils are used for scan-tron tests because the machines which read answers (the filled bubbles) will recognize a marked answer based on the shininess and reflection of the graphite on the paper.
The #2 specifies the hardness of the graphite inside the pencil. The harder the graphite, the lighter the color that gets made. #2 pencils are usually specified for machine-readable documents because that’s what the scanner is set for. Other grades/hardness of pencils are used for other items, such has carpenter pencils being much harder because they have to be drug across materials like concrete.
It’s the hardness of the graphite core. A number 3 pencil will have a much harder graphite core.
https://pencils.com/pages/no-2-pencil
>pencil’s location on the HB graphite grading scale depends on the hardness of its graphite core. The hardness of the graphite core is often marked on the pencil — look for a number (such as “2” “2-1/2” or “3”) — and the higher the number, the harder the writing core and the lighter the mark left on the paper. As the pencil core becomes softer (through the use of lower proportions of clay) it leaves a darker mark as it deposits more graphite material on the paper. Softer pencils will dull faster than harder leads and require more frequent sharpening.
Hope this answers your question
The number describes the hardness. Different numbers are made mostly for artists, who want different effects when they draw with pencils.
#2 are needed for scanned testing sheets. But other numbers of lead hardness are used for art and other applications.
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