this post was submitted on 14 Apr 2025
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The reason not to use pencils in Space wasn't that Pencil are inflamable, the main reason was the graphit dust produced by Pencils, which because of the lack of gravity, enter floating in the electronic, causing short circuits as main risk.
That is something I found weird, too. Inflammable and flammable mean the same thing!
Technically, I think they're different. Flammable means that it can be lit on fire, like wood or something. Whereas inflammable means it can catch fire on its own, like gas, for example.
Edit: after some googling, it appears that my source was shit and should be disregarded. They do indeed appear to be synonyms. And also, I was thinking of gasoline. I think I was thinking of the "gas pedal" and that threw me off.
Credit to you for the self-correction though
Synonyms, true synonyms. No real difference between them (except don't use inflammable in safety situations, for above reasons)
saying that "gas" is able to catch fire on its own is stretching it :) A gas mix typically still needs a spark, unlike: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypergolic_propellant <- that stuff can "catch fire" on its own. But even there - it needs to be mixed, so technically, one component requires the other to ignite.
Yeah, my bad, shit example.
It makes more sense if you think of it as enflammable. Indent and indebted at examples of this "in-" prefix. https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/flammable-or-inflammable
The people at Merriam are alright 👌
United States education system
Flammable isn't a word.
Just Americans got confused by it so it became a word.
So then it is a word
A word made for stupid people, yes.
Probably not great for eyes or noses or filtration systems either
Twist: you’re the filtration system.
I guess we are in a way a filtration system that removes oxygen from the air...
Ok there Ongo Baglogian
Also a broken bit of lead could easily float into someone's eye or get aspirated.
There is no way either side used lead pencils. Saying lead is in pencils is a very outdated thing, it's all graphite these days.
it hasn’t been graphite for while now either….
Chalk isn't chalk?
no
Regular chalk is calcium carbonate. Crayola's website says their sidewalk chalk uses calcium sulfate (gypsum as an ingredient in plaster of paris).
So they're both calcium salts.
A sharp piece of graphite from a broken pencil is not something you would want in your eyes either
Genuine question. why did you choose to use "inflammable" instead of "flammable"?
Inflame was the original word for 'to ignite' - to set aflame, to set on fire. We still see if in metaphor, 'inflammatory argument' or 'inflamed passion', for example.
So an inflammable object was one you can inflame (or enflame). The word 'flammable' came about later, probably to reduce confusion for people who thought it mean 'un-flameable'.
These days we use flammable on labels for safety reasons, but inflame is still peppered throughout language in metaphor and medicine, and both are correct.
Lapsus
lapis
Skamtebord
Oh dear, the internet is leaking again.. Call the locksmith 🗣️
inflammation, inflamed, inflammable
inflammable = easily ignited
This is the most upvotes I think I have ever seen on a comment here.
and thin paper shavings = space kindling. the entire argument is fucking dumb.
perhaps the sovs gnawed their pencils sharp and consumed all the graphite fragments and shavings lol. good lil soviet space beavers
The Soviets were using grease pencils IIRC before also switching to the Fisher Space Pen around 1969. The grease pencil eliminated the risk of graphite floating around but the writing quality isn’t great.
If I remember correctly, the Soviet engines were a lot harder to short out, so pencils weren't as big a problem in their spacecraft.
bwahaha this is idiotic. anyone familiar with the long litany of rocket failures out of baiknor knows their engines weren't 'harder to short out' whatever silly shit you mean with it.
short out what? the alternator? bwahahahahaahahahaha
short out the fuse box? dear god, I'm dying here