Ink

A bottle of ink

Ingredients used to prepare ink for Hebrew scrolls today

Qalams as used in Arabic calligraphy are reed pens

Ink is a liquid that is used to write, draw, print, or make marks. The word ink is from Latin and means "colored water". Ink is used in pens, in some computer printers, and in printing presses. In some countries, people write by using ink and brushes. People usually write or print using black ink, but ink can be any color. The first ink was used in Egypt about 2600 BC.

The first inks were carbon inks, made from soot, which is 80% carbon, water and gum arabic. Red ink would need iron oxide (such as haematite) from ground rocks instead of soot. Later, in Europe, people used iron gall ink. This is the kind of ink Johann Sebastian Bach and Leonardo da Vinci used. Now ink colours are produced by man-made dyes.

A disadvantage of many kinds of ink is that they may smudge when wet, spoiling the picture or writing. If water-based ink is used, the writing situation needs to be stable, with the writer seated at a table. Ink in a ballpoint pen (biro) is a kind of gel. It is held in a thin long cylinder (tube) inside the pen. The ink does not fall out of the cylinder as it sticks to the sides of the tube. Therefore, ballpoint pens can be used in a wider range of circumstances compared to water-based inks.

Ink Media

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  Bottles of ink from Germany

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  A parchment quill and ink. Klaf, Kulmus & D'yo

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  Ink drawing of Ganesha under an umbrella (early 19th century). Ink, called masi, an admixture of several chemical components, has been used in India since at least the 4th century BC. The practice of writing with ink and a sharp pointed needle was common in early South India. Several Jain sutras in India were compiled in ink.

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  Oak galls and iron(II) sulfate

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  Magnified line drawn by a fountain pen.

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  Chinese inkstick; carbon-based and made from soot and animal glue

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  A voter's thumb stained with indelible ink

References

• Martín-Gil, J.; Ramos-Sánchez, M.C.; Martín-Gil, F.J.; José-Yacamán, M. (2006), "Chemical composition of a fountain pen ink", Journal of Chemical Education, 83 (10): 1476–1478, doi:10.1021/ed083p1476.