Lead to that of primary lead; some refining processes may be skipped depending on the material recycled and its potential contamination. Of the sources of lead for recycling, lead–acid batteries are the most important; lead pipe, sheet, and cable sheathing are also significant. Contrary to popular belief, pencil leads in wooden pencils have never been made from lead. When the pencil originated as a wrapped graphite writing tool, the particular type of graphite used was named "plumbago" (literally, "act for lead" or "lead mockup"). Lead metal has several useful mechanical properties, including high density, low melting point, ductility, and relative inertness.
Lead–lead dating Lead–lead dating Lead–lead dating is a method for dating geological samples, normally based on 'whole-rock' samples of material such as granite. For most dating requirements it has been superseded by uranium–lead dating (U–Pb dating), but in certain specialized situations (such as dating meteorites and the age of the Earth) it is more important than U–Pb dating. There are three stable "daughter" Pb isotopes that result from the radioactive decay of uranium and thorium in nature; they are Pb, Pb, and Pb. Pb is the only non-radiogenic lead isotope, therefore is not one of the daughter isotopes. These daughter isotopes are