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Graphite is one of the allotropes of carbon. (See also allotropes of carbonAllotropes of carbon are different molecular configurations ( allotropes) that pure carbon can take. These allotropes include: diamond, lonsdaleite amorphous carbon, graphite, fullerene, carbon nanotube, carbon nanofoam (newly discovered in 1997), quasam.) Unlike diamondAlternate meanings: Diamond (disambiguation Diamond is one of the natural allotropes of carbon (the main allotrope being graphite; see also allotropes of carbon). The hardest of naturally occurring materials, diamonds cut into multi-faceted shapes are amo, graphite is a conductorIn science and engineering, conductors are materials that contain movable charges of electricity. When an electric potential difference is impressed across separate points on a conductor, an electric current between those points appears in accordance with, and can be used, for instance, as the material in the electrodes of an electrical arc lampAn arc lamp is a device that produces light by the sparking (or arcing, from voltaic arc) of a high current between two carbon rod electrodes. The rods are touched and then slowly drawn apart; as the rods separate the current is "struck" and arcs across t.

The pi orbital electronsElectron configuration is the arrangement of electrons in an atom, molecule or other body. Specifically, it is the placement of electrons into atomic, molecular, or other forms of electron orbitals. Orbitals, states, and wavefunctions Since electrons are delocalized across the hexagonal atomic sheets of carbon contribute the graphite's conductivity. In an oriented piece of graphite, conductivity parallel to these sheets is greater than that perpendicular to these sheets.

The loose coupling among the sheets in graphite contributes to another industrially important property -- graphite powder is used as a dry lubricant. Recent studies suggest that an effect called superlubricity can also account for this effect. Graphite is also used in pencils.