Article: Pencil sketches turn paper into a sensor

No, this is not some new device. It’s just a plain, old, graphite pencil, being used in a new way.

"By drawing a rectangle on a piece of paper with an ordinary pencil, researchers in China have made a strong, highly sensitive sensor that can measure how much it bends.

“The graphite rectangle drawn on the paper conducts electricity, but has quite a high resistance. As it bends, the resistance either increases or decreases, depending on which way it is distorted. By measuring that resistance, the precise angle of bend can be detected.”

“Pencil sketches turn paper into a sensor”

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I’m really curious as to why/how the direction of the bend has any effect on the resistance. I would think a 2D shape would be equally affected by bending in either direction.

Nothing is perfectly 2D. Bending is still going to subject the lines to compression or tension. That’s my guess, anyway.