Get Rid of Your Mistakes! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Graphite

Of course you can't erase graphite marks with graphite! Pencils are commonly made of graphite, a much safer substance that the once used lead. Erasers have been made from several different items, including soy, plastic, synthetic rubber, vinyl, and gum like materials.

Answer: Wax

Wax was once used to erase mistakes made on paper. It had one obvious flaw... when smeared on the paper, it created a greasy film on the paper, which became hard to write on. If you have ever tried to write on a block of wax using pencil, you know it is not easy!

Answer: Bread

I would imagine an apple or cucumber would work, due to their waxy covers, but back when bread was used, fruits and vegetables weren't preserved like they are today. Chocolate would be a disaster to use, it would just create a bigger mess! The bread used was thought to be crustless, but it, like wax, had one flaw.

In this case the bread would disintegrate! It would eventually become too expensive to replace the bread as often as it would be needed. Anyway, who wants moldy bread smeared all over their essays? !

Answer: Joseph Priestly

Priestly discovered a gum plant that had the ability to erase black pencil lead. He didn't know what it was, but he decided to call it "rubber". Many rubber plants exist today, and this is where most rubber used today comes from. Priestly first discovered rubber in 1770.

Answer: Edward Nairne

Nairne invented the rubber eraser after the discovery of rubber in 1770. He sold them in England, at a high price. Each half inch cube was three shillings. This is how the eraser, or rubber, got its name, that it rubs out pencil marks. It is interesting to note that Edward Nairne and Edward Naime are the same people.

His last name has not been determined, since he lived so long ago, the written name cannot be determined as an "M" or "RN." No one is sure what his last name truly is. :-)

Answer: Vulcanization

Vulcanization was invented in 1839. The process cured rubber so it would stay durable for a long period of time. This was important, because rubber, like bread crumbs, would go bad over time. This new process prevented this from happening.

Answer: Hymen Lipman

Hymen Lipman was credited for putting the first eraser at the end of a pencil in 1858. He did so for the convenience. It was a pain to write, make a mistake, and have to use a completely different tool to erase your mistake. Therefore, he put the eraser at the end of the pencil, so all you had to do was flip the pencil over!

Answer: Pumice

Pumice causes the eraser to be more durable and sturdy. Cap erasers work well, but have many design flaws. It is a hard eraser, and can damage the paper if you wipe too hard. They also leave eraser shavings on the paper, and can smear the pencil lead onto the paper more if not brushed off carefully. Most of these erasers do not work well because they are not flexible enough to effectively rub off the pencil markings, while others simply smear the pencil lead around the paper, as opposed to actually erasing the lead.

Answer: Yes

You can erase ink, but it does not work very well. These ink pens are very special pens with special properties. Usually, a regular pencil eraser will not erase these pens, as special erasers are needed. Usually, these erasers smear the ink rather than erase, and those that do erase the ink do not erase the ink effectively enough to be worth anything.

Answer: Silly Putty

Playdough is NOT smart to stick on paper. It will cover the paper in a greasy, oily substance, and what is more, the playdough will simply stick to the paper itself, and becomes almost impossible to remove effectively. Silly putty works well to erase pencil marks, but it works very slowly.

There are special putty erasers that you can stick to paper, press, and pull away, that will remove the pencil lead without damaging the paper OR leaving eraser shavings! It is very durable, but after a long period of time, it will stop working.

This is because, instead of removing the pencil lead, it absorbs it. Therefore, after a time, there will be so much pencil lead in it, that instead of erasing, it writes! It will contain so much lead, it turns from a light gray or blue or white, to almost black of pencil lead.

It, like all erasers, does have a flaw. If it gets too warm, it will not be as elastic as it needs to be, and if used in its warm state, will stick to the paper and leave little chunks of eraser stuck to your paper.