Density of Wood

Density is defined as the ratio of a substance’s mass to its volume. The density of wood, like any other material that adsorbs water, changes when moisture content varies. This is because adsorbing moisture increases the total mass of wood, and may also change the volume as well.

Wood Density Calculator

Units:

US SI

Species:

--------- Alder, red Ash, Black Ash, Blue Ash, Green Ash, Oregon Ash, Pumpkin Ash, White Aspen, Bigtooth Aspen, Quaking Basswood, American Beech, American Birch, Paper Birch, River Birch, Sweet Birch, Yellow Buckeye, Yellow Butternut Cedar, Atlantic white Cedar, Eastern redcedar Cedar, Incense Cedar, Northern white Cedar, Port-Orford Cedar, Western redcedar Cedar, Yellow Cherry, black Chestnut, American Cottonwood, Black Cottonwood, Eastern Douglas fir Elm, American Elm, Cedar Elm, Rock Elm, Slippery Elm, Winged Fir, Balsam Fir, California red Fir, Grand Fir, Noble Fir, Pacific silver Fir, Subalpine Fir, White Hackberry Hemlock, Eastern Hemlock, Mountain Hemlock, Western Hickory, pecan Hickory, true, Mockernut Hickory, true, Pignut Hickory, true, Shagbark Hickory, true, Shellbark Holly, American Honeylocust Larch, western Locust, black Madrone, Pacific Magnolia, Cucumbertree Magnolia, Southern Magnolia, Sweetbay Maple, Bigleaf Maple, Black Maple, Red Maple, Silver Maple, Striped Maple, Sugar Oak, red, Black Oak, red, Laurel Oak, red, Northern red Oak, red, Pin Oak, red, Scarlet Oak, red, Southern red Oak, red, Water Oak, red, Willow Oak, white, Bur Oak, white, Chestnut Oak, white, Live Oak, white, Overcup Oak, white, Post Oak, white, Swamp, chestnut Oak, white, White Persimmon, common Pine, Eastern white Pine, Jack Pine, Loblolly Pine, Lodgepole Pine, Longleaf Pine, Pitch Pine, Pond Pine, Ponderosa Pine, Red Pine, Shortleaf Pine, Slash Pine, Sugar Pine, Virginia Pine, Western white Redwood, Old growth Redwood, Young growth Sassafras Spurce, Black Spurce, Engelmann Spurce, Red Spurce, Sitka Sweetgum Sycamore, American Tamarack Tanoak Tupelo, Water Walnut, black Willow, black Yellow poplar

Custom G_b:

Moisture Content (%):

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Calculate

Unlike specific gravity, for density we reference both mass and volume at the current moisture content. Meaning that water-mass is considered in density.

One easy way to calculate the density of wood at any moisture content is to use its basic specific gravity G_b and its percent volumetric shrinkage from green state to the desired moisture content S_MC .

The presented calculator extracts percent volumetric shrinkage from our database. In the case that the value is not available in our database or custom basic specific gravity is used, the calculator uses the equation below for estimating percent volumetric shrinkage value from green state to oven-dry moisture content (S₀).