Identification and Demonstration of

Passage of Electric Current Through Different

Concentration of Graphite
Bat, Cream, Gut, Orm, Tonhom
1101
Introduction
Paper circuit is an interesting experiment due to the materials that we use
are common things such as paper, pencil, battery, alligator clip and light bulb.
This experiment aims to test that graphite can be used as a conductor in a circuit.
Introduction
Electric current is a flow of electric charge in the
electric circuit. This charge is often carried by moving
electrons in the wire.
The unit of electric current is ampere .

Conductor is a material that allows

electric charge to move through it as an
electric current.
Introduction
Objective
Find the best density of graphite in pencils that
produces the brightest light.
Materials
Staedtler pencils
(EE 5B B 2H 7H)
Alligator clips

Diode (5)

Battery 9V (5) Papers

Physics Concepts
Electricity

Current (I) : continuous movement of electrons through a conductor

Voltage (V) : A force motivating these electrons to move from one point in a circuit to
another. (specific type of potential energy)

Resistance (R) : A friction or a motion opposing the movement of free electrons from one
point to another in a circuit.
Physics concept
Conductor and Insulator

Conductor : materials in which electron in the outer shell are not anchored to the nuclei
but are free to wander.

Insulator : material in which electron are tightly bound to its nuclei and are not free to
wander among atoms in material.
Physics concept

Graphite

A crystalline form of Carbon

Metal alloy
Layered molecular structure, weak bonds, slippery texture
Low resistivity (9 - 40 m)
Contains delocalised electrons (act as a conductor)
Procedure
1. Prepare materials: Staedtler pencils (EE, 5B, B, 2H,
7H), 5 A4 papers, a battery 9V (5), alligator clips, a
LED bulbs
2. Draw a picture on a paper using five
types of pencil that have different levels of graphite
3. Connect the alligator clips to the battery
4. Connect one side of the alligator clip to one of the
bulbs leg
5. Connect the other end of the alligator clip to line
6. Compare the brightness of the light bulb.
Data - 5B pencil
Data - EE pencil
Data - B pencil
Data - 2H pencil
Data - 7H pencil
Data
Types of pencil Level of brightness Voltage

7H Dimmest 9V

2H 4th 9V

B 3rd 9V

5B Brightest 9V

EE 2nd 9V
Conclusion
Our goal is to find the best type of pencil that produces the brightest light. According
to our experiment, the best type of pencil is 5B. The second and third are B and EE
respectively. Also, the dimmest light produced is from 2H pencil. However, when we used
a 7H pencil, the light was not turn on. It is surprising that EE, which has a high density of
Graphite does not produce the brightest light. Therefore, we can conclude that Graphite
can be a conductor of electricity, but the more concentration does not produce the
brightest light.
Recommendation
From our experiment, we used only one battery for all trials, so it means that the volts
of battery were not going to be the same. Thus, we should change the battery every time
for each trial, so that the voltage would be a controlled variable (still in 9 V for every trials).
In addition, during the experiment, the LED bulb wire was touched by an alligator clip
making the LED bulb burned out, so we needed to get a new one because it cannot be
used. Although we lost three bulbs, we still have seven left because we bought it for ten to
be spare. However, we should be more careful when we do the experiment.
References
BBC. (2017, April). Graphite and fullerenes - Higher tier. Retrieved from BBC:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/add_aqa/bonding/structure_propertiesrev8.shtml
Conductor and Insulators. (2017, April). Retrieved from Hyperphysics:
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/electric/conins.html
Elert, G. (2017, April). Resistivity Of Carbon, Graphite. Retrieved from Hypertextbook:
http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2004/AfricaBelgrave.shtml
Mersen. (2017, April). GRAPHITE ADVANTAGES. Retrieved from Mersen:
http://www.edm.mersen.com/graphite-advantages/
Rouse, M. (2017, April). Conductor. Retrieved from http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/conductor
The Physics Classroom. (2017, April). Electric current. Retrieved from
http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/circuits/Lesson-2/Electric-Current