How can pencils make letters and drawings on paper?
A pencil has a lead. It is because of this core that we can write and draw on paper.
The core of a pencil is made of graphite. Graphite is a dark black substance that can be easily ground into a powder. When this is mixed with clay and baked, it becomes pencil lead. To draw with a pencil means to rub hard on the paper with this graphite shin. We usually don't notice this, but the lead of the pencil is rubbed very hard on the paper.
If you look at the pencil's writing on the paper under a microscope, you can see many fine graphite particles lined up on the surface. The reason why we can draw and write on paper is that the graphite particles stick to the paper because the pencil is rubbed hard against the paper.
For your home
As the pencil is written "pencil (namari no fude)" in Chinese characters, people used to write characters and draw pictures with lead and silver.
