For as long as pencils have been available in different grades, the #2 or its equivalent has been the most popular for general use. Some people believe that the #2 pencil is so called because it used to be the second most common, but that’s not the case. What else would the mathematician use to work out his calculus problem?Īll joking aside–did you miss the joking?–there are #1 pencils, and #2.5, #3, and #4 and sometimes other intermediate grades, and you can buy them all at finer stationery stores everywhere (and now online too). Of course there’s such a thing as a #1 pencil. Good thing the teacher knew we both actually spoke German well, because my classmate sat right in front of me! I lived with my German great-grandmother, and she gave my German a real workout at home.Ī #2 pencil is used because it's the most common grade, and it has a good balance between darkness and durability of the mark (it doesn't smear much, which can be an issue with multiple pages being handled multiple times).Dear Straight Dope: What exactly is a #2 pencil and why isn’t there a #1 pencil? Jason Fanguy I even took a city-wide test in German given by the Goethe Institut and was one of the two top scorers in the city, along with one of my classmates. Never once have I ever heard of anyone having a problem with a test not be scored properly because of a problem with a pencil lead.Īnd I also assure you that my scores on the relevant tests were enough to get me into any college in the world, and I passed every Regents test with flying colors. All of these tests are scored by electronic eye. I went to Stuyvesant High School, where you take an electronically scored test to get in, take NY State Regents tests every year or you don't pass the class, where Drafting is a required course (or, was, anyway, not sure if it still is, but I suspect it's all CAD, now), PSATs, SATs (multiple times), AP exams, Achievement Tests in multiple subjects (ACHs). Granted, I haven't taken a College Board test in almost 30 years, but I assure you I used mechanical pencils for them. I used to be the buyer for an art supply store, and I have never once seen an HB pencil marked as #2-1/2 the only #2-1/2s I've seen are marked F. Anything close to HB, F, B, #2, #2-1/2, #1, should be perfectly fine. I have never in my life heard of there being any problem with scoring a test using a mechanical pencil, provided one uses a lead dark enough to register to the photographic sensor. My hypothesis is that HB seems to be the magic point where the pencil is dark enough, but doesn't smear too much. One test I want to try is to take notes with a variety of pencils in my planner, and then walk around with it for a month and see how badly they smear. My guess is pencil companies are told by stores they only want HB #2s, but the companies know can differentiate their product from the others by dropping B or 2B leads in the pencils. Staples has HB and sometimes B.) The hardness creep is especially annoying because when people test them, I find they gravitate toward the softer, darker leads. (Here in the US, most Wal-Marts carry only HB in 120 or 150 lead packages. My explanation for the recent HB-, HB, HB+ post is that the stores say, "We only want HB." So Pentel gives them HB. But I just don't think it's going to happen. Sure it'd be nice for everyone to be the same. This lack of a hardness standard bugs me some ways and not others. I'm not saying it helps a lot, but if you're worried about every point and every second, it helps. I sent my nephew with a handful of #2s and an old "Test Scoring Pencil" with a well-rounded tip, hoping the proctors wouldn't look closely. Pencils are actually advertised to be SAT acceptable. The SAT requires a #2 pencil, despite the fact that softer pencils offer a significant advantage in filling out the little ovals. Here in the US, there is a college entrance test called the SAT (which used to stand for something, but which has been changed to stand for "S.A.T" to avoid controversy). Link to No.2 Pencils, Scantron Bubble Tests, etc What do they use in South America, the Middle East and Asia – HB or 2 or something else? If you know, leave a comment. Who knows what a number 2 pencil is the same as? If I saw Soft, I would expect B, or 2B.Īccording to the Faber-Castell catalogue, Number 2 = B.īut from their countrymen at Staedtler, Number 2 = HB.īut the folk at Stabilo have just completely lost the plot, with 1 = 3B, 2 = HB and 2 ½ also = HB! Personally I’ve never thought of HB as soft. Here is Dixon marking their pencils as “Number 2, HB, SOFT”. I thought there was some consensus that the relationship is I didn’t even know this USA “Number” system existed until a few years ago but since its not the only system operating in the US, I guess it could all get a bit confusing. A few US folk find this blog with searches trying to relate No 2 pencils to their equivalents in the HB system.
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