Re: Have any scientists experimented with crayons?

Dear Katie,
     I am one of the scientists who work at Crayola (Binney & Smith, 
Inc.)  Routinely in the laboratory, we invent new colors and types of 
crayons.  A big part of inventing is testing the crayons for performance.  
Among these tests are strength, color quality, laydown (how well it writes 
or colors), and stability (how long it lasts, whether it changes in some 
fashion over time, or melts easily, etc.)  We will also take competitor 
crayons (RoseArt, Colorific (Sanford), for instance)and test those the 
same way to see where we stand.  In regards to strength, we look at how 
easily the tips break, and also how easily the crayons snap in half (how 
brittle they are) before and after we wrap the label on them.  For color 
quality, we look at how accurate the color is, how deep and rich it is, 
etc.  For laydown, we look at how the wax delivers color to paper; we look 
closely at the mark it produces: does the color skip?  Is it streaky or 
scratchy?  Are there lots of flakes (shavings) left behind?..  Finally, we 
look at how long the crayon will last on the shelf.  If it is exposed to 
heat, will it melt too easily (i.e., what is it's melting point)?  Also, 
we look for how it performs at room temperature and frozen over extended 
periods of time.