Why are hardwoods hard

These standardized results are then used as a relative measure of the hardness of a wood, the results of which are fairly easy to find on the web. If you browse a Janka hardness table, you'll see that the hardest woods are tropical hardwood species, but then below that, softwoods and hardwoods are relatively randomly mixed.

So, now you know the rest of the story Let's Stay Connected. By entering your email, you consent to receive communications from Penn State Extension.

View our privacy policy. Thank you for your submission! What is the Difference Between Hardwood and Softwood? Most people think hardwood is hard, and softwood is soft. Sometimes true, but not necessarily. Real Wood - but is it hardwood, or softwood? Hardwood is hard Charles David Ray, Ph. Why do we need this? What makes a wood hard or soft? What types of trees are hardwood and softwood?

Stay tuned for Part 2! Do you need whole log lumber? Next Post Hardwood Vs. Trees that produce hardwood are known as angiosperms and produce seeds that are covered, either with a skin or a shell. Such seeds could be fruits or nuts. Softwoods on the other hand come from trees that are known as gymnosperms. The seeds of this type of tree have no covering althought they might fall to the ground in some form of protection eg. It is this that gives rise to their name, evergreens.

This means that deciduous trees produce hardwoods and evergreens produce softwoods. The pores in hardwoods are a lot of what gives hardwood its prominent grain, which is quite different from softwood's light grain. In many cases, hardwoods and softwoods are both used for many of the same purposes, with more emphasis placed on the type of hardwood or softwood and how dense it is.

Generally, though, softwoods are cheaper and easier to work with than hardwoods. This is impressive considering hardwoods are much more common in the world than softwoods. Softwoods have a wide range of applications and are found in building components e. Pines are one of the most commonly used softwoods. Though hardwoods are often more expensive and sometimes more challenging to work with, their upside is that most — though not all — are denser, meaning many hardwoods will last longer than softwoods.

For this reason, hardwoods are more likely to be found in high-quality furniture, decks, flooring , and construction that needs to last. The denser a wood is, the harder, stronger, and more durable it is. Most hardwoods have a higher density than most softwoods. The chart below shows the density of some commonly used woods.

As evidenced by the table above, alder and balsa are soft hardwoods, while juniper and yew are hard softwoods. Softwoods contain more glucomannans than hardwoods, while hardwoods contain more xylans. Hardwoods are generally far more resistant to decay than softwoods when used for exterior work.