What is the density of wood?

1 Answer
Sep 8, 2016

Different kinds of wood cover a very large range of densities. Balsa wood has a very low density of 160 #(kg)/m^3#, while ebony has a density of over 1200 #(kg)/m^3#.

Explanation:

Typical types of wood that are used to make furniture include pine, maple, oak, poplar, and ash. These typically have densities between 400 and 700 #(kg)/m^3#. But even that can vary from one piece of wood to the next.

The density of water is 1000 #(kg)/m^3#, so any wood more dense than that will sink. Most wood floats. But ebony, boxwood, and a few others will sink.

Here is a link to a handy table showing a list of the densities of different kinds of wood.

http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/wood-density-d_40.html