What are ballpoint pens made of?
Ballpoint pens take brass, tungsten carbide, ink, polystyrene, ABS plastic and steel wire directly. Trace them back and you pass 50 made things on the way to 27 raw materials.
How ballpoint pens are made See it on the map
What goes straight in
From the ground: 27 raw materials
- Water through ink
- Air through ABS plastic
- Copper ore through brass, copper
- Zinc ore through brass, zinc
- Lead ore through brass, lead
- Tin ore through brass, tin
- Crude oil through brass, aluminum
- Coal through brass, aluminum
- Tungsten ore through tungsten carbide, tungsten
- Cobalt ore through tungsten carbide, cobalt
- Soybeans through ink, vegetable oil
- Rapeseed through ink, vegetable oil
- Clay through ink, vegetable oil
- Titanium ore through ink, titanium dioxide
- Iron ore through ABS plastic, pigment
- Sulfur through ABS plastic, pigment
- Corn through ink, ethanol
- Sugarcane through ink, ethanol
- Natural gas through ABS plastic, ethylene
- Bauxite through brass, aluminum, alumina
- Rock salt through ink, titanium dioxide, chlorine
- Limestone through steel wire, steel, quicklime
- Dolomite through steel wire, steel, magnesium
- Manganese ore through steel wire, steel, manganese
- Sugar beet through ink, ethanol, baker's yeast, molasses
- Quartz through steel wire, steel, magnesium, metallurgical silicon
- Timber through steel wire, steel, magnesium, metallurgical silicon
Made along the way: 44 things
Metals 14
Chemicals and fuels 25
Carbon blackTitanium dioxidePigmentEthanolNaphthaEthyleneBenzeneStyrenePropyleneAmmoniaOxygen gasSulfuric acidPetroleum cokeHydrogenHexanePhenolFormaldehydeChlorineTolueneQuicklimeArgonCaustic sodaMethanolPropaneCharcoal