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 kgm3, while ebony has a density of over 1200 kgm3.

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 kgm3. But even that can vary from one piece of wood to the next.

The density of water is 1000 kgm3, 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