The Grade 12 Physicists investigated the resistance of graphite contained in pencils this week as part of an investigation into resistivity (one of the prescribed Physics investigations by the IB). And by doing so, they were able to calculate the thickness of the lines they had drawn: 3.26 x 10^-8 m, if uncertainties are neglected. This means that at any given point, and according to our not neccessarily precise measurements, there are just about 220 atoms of carbon stacked on top of each other in a line drawn in pencil.
