Difference between revisions of "Charcoal"

Latest revision as of 11:33, 13 March 2025

Sketch by Sargent
MFA# 28.636

Description

A lightweight, black, porous Carbon containing residue from burned wood (e.g., Willow, Maple, Beech, Linden or plum) or other organic containing materials such as bone, plants or animals. Charcoal contains 80 to 98% carbon with some ash and moisture. Charcoal has been used since ancient times as a drawing material and pigment (see Charcoal black). Charcoal is also sold as a fuel, abrasive, sorbent, filter media, and decolorizer. Modern charcoal briquettes used for outdoor cooking may contain many other additives, e.g. Coal.

Charcoal

Synonyms and Related Terms

trækul (Dan.); negro carbón (Esp.); carbón vegetal (Esp.); Holzkohle (Deut.); charbon de bois (Fr.); karboyno (Gr.); carbonella (It.); carbone (It.); carbo ligni (Lat.); houtskool zwart (Ned.); carvão vegetal (Port.)

XRD

SEM

EDS

XRF

Risks

Fire risk. May ignite spontaneously in air.

Physical and Chemical Properties

Tiny wood splinters may be visible microscopically.
Density = oak=0.57; pine=0.28-0.44
ASTM (1999) lightfastness = I (excellent)
Refractive Index = opaque

Additional Images

Charcoal
Willow charcoal sticks
Charcoal mark on paper
Charcoal

Resources and Citations

G.S.Brady, Materials Handbook, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1971 Comment: p. 182
Ralph Mayer, A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques, Harper and Row Publishers, New York, 1969 (also 1945 printing)
R.D. Harley, Artists' Pigments c. 1600-1835, Butterworth Scientific, London, 1982
Wikipedia: Charcoal (Accessed Sept. 2 2005 and March 2025)
CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, Robert Weast (ed.), CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, v. 61, 1980 Comment: density for oak=0.57; pine=0.28-0.44
Richard S. Lewis, Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 10th ed., 1993
Random House, Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Grammercy Book, New York, 1997
The American Heritage Dictionary or Encarta, via Microsoft Bookshelf 98, Microsoft Corp., 1998

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-[[File:28.636-SC71899.jpg|thumb|]]
+[[File:28.636-SC71899.jpg|thumb|Sketch by Sargent<br>MFA# 28.636]]
 == Description ==
-A black, porous carbonaceous material. Charcoal is the [[carbon]] containing residue from burned wood (e.g., [[willow]], [[maple]], [[beech]], [[linden]] or [[plum (tree)|plum]]) or other organic containing materials such as bone, plants or animals. Charcoal contains 80 to 98% carbon with some ash and moisture. Charcoal has been used since ancient times as a drawing material and pigment (see [[charcoal black]]). Charcoal is also sold commercially as a fuel, abrasive, sorbent, filter media, and decolorizer.
+A lightweight, black, porous [[carbon]] containing residue from burned wood (e.g., [[willow]], [[maple]], [[beech]], [[linden]] or [[plum (tree)|plum]]) or other organic containing materials such as bone, plants or animals. Charcoal contains 80 to 98% carbon with some ash and moisture. Charcoal has been used since ancient times as a drawing material and pigment (see [[charcoal black]]). Charcoal is also sold as a fuel, abrasive, sorbent, filter media, and decolorizer. Modern charcoal briquettes used for outdoor cooking may contain many other additives, e.g. [[coal]].
-See also [[activated carbon]], and [[charcoal crayon]].
 [[File:image7_charcoal.jpg|thumb|Charcoal]]
+See also [[activated carbon]], [[charcoal crayon]] and [[bone black]].
 == Synonyms and Related Terms ==
@@ Line 12: / Line 10: @@
 trækul (Dan.); negro carbón (Esp.); carbón vegetal (Esp.); Holzkohle (Deut.); charbon de bois (Fr.); karboyno (Gr.); carbonella (It.); carbone (It.); carbo ligni (Lat.); houtskool zwart (Ned.); carvão vegetal (Port.)
-[[[SliderGallery rightalign|PIG508.jpg~XRD|f508sem.jpg~SEM|f508edsbw.jpg~EDS]]]
+[[[SliderGallery rightalign|PIG508.jpg~XRD|f508sem.jpg~SEM|f508edsbw.jpg~EDS|Slide14 F508.PNG~XRF]]]
+== Risks ==
-== Other Properties ==
-Microscopically, tiny wood splinters may be visible.
-{| class="wikitable"
-|-
-! scope="row"| Density
-| oak=0.57; pine=0.28-0.44
-|}
-== Hazards and Safety ==
+* Fire risk.  May ignite spontaneously in air.
+== Physical and Chemical Properties ==
-Fire risk.  May ignite spontaneously in air.
+* Tiny wood splinters may be visible microscopically.
+* Density = oak=0.57; pine=0.28-0.44
+* ASTM (1999) lightfastness = I (excellent)
+* Refractive Index = opaque
 == Additional Images ==
 <gallery>
 File:natvscomp charcoal.jpg|Charcoal
@@ Line 37: / Line 29: @@
 </gallery>
+== Resources and Citations ==
-== Authority ==
 * G.S.Brady, ''Materials Handbook'', McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1971  Comment: p. 182
 * Ralph Mayer, ''A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques'', Harper and Row Publishers, New York, 1969 (also 1945 printing)
 * R.D. Harley, ''Artists' Pigments c. 1600-1835'', Butterworth Scientific, London, 1982
+* Wikipedia: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charcoal Charcoal] (Accessed Sept. 2 2005 and March 2025)
-* Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, at http://www.wikipedia.com  Comment: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charcoal (Accessed Sept. 2 2005)
 * ''CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics'', Robert Weast (ed.), CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, v. 61, 1980  Comment: density for oak=0.57; pine=0.28-0.44
 * Richard S. Lewis, ''Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary'', Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 10th ed., 1993
 * Random House, ''Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language'', Grammercy Book, New York, 1997
 * ''The American Heritage Dictionary'' or ''Encarta'', via Microsoft Bookshelf 98, Microsoft Corp., 1998
 [[Category:Materials database]]