How do erasers remove pencil marks from paper?
Erasers also called rubbers, are used to remove the graphite marks made by pencil while writing on paper. Erasers are generally made of 'sticky' substances like plastic, rubber, vinyl, gum etc.
When a person writes, graphite particles wear off the pencil tip and get interlocked with paper molecules. The soft abrasive action of the eraser causes the graphite particles to stick to it instead of the paper, as graphite has a stronger attraction to the eraser molecules than to paper. The 'dust' left over after rubbing consists of worn rubber clumps mixed with graphite particles.
Some types of erasers tend to remove the top layer of the paper along with the graphite particles and rubbing the same spot repeatedly can make holes in the paper.
