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- 2081 Kartik (new course) · 1.5 marks
- 2065 Shrawan (old course) · 4 marks
Hard wood versus soft wood
Short answer
Hardwood from broad-leaved trees is dark, dense, strong, durable, and hard to work. Softwood from conifers is light, pale, straight-grained, less durable, easy to work, and cheaper, used for framing and shuttering.
Write the distinctive properties of hard wood and soft wood.
Hardwood comes from broad-leaved (deciduous) trees such as sal, teak, oak, shisham and mahogany. Softwood comes from needle-leaved (coniferous) trees such as pine, deodar, cedar and fir.
| Property | Hardwood | Softwood |
|---|---|---|
| Source | Broad-leaved deciduous trees | Coniferous trees |
| Growth | Slow | Fast |
| Colour | Dark | Light |
| Weight/density | Heavy, dense | Light |
| Grain | Close, compact | Open, straight |
| Annual rings | Not clearly distinct | Distinct, easily seen |
| Medullary rays | Distinct | Not distinct |
| Resin | Absent | Often present |
| Strength | Strong in tension, compression and shear | Strong along the grain (tension), weak in shear and across the grain |
| Durability | Durable, resists decay | Less durable, decays faster |
| Fire resistance | More | Less (burns fast) |
| Workability | Difficult to work | Easy to work |
| Cost | High | Low |
| Uses | Furniture, beams, posts, flooring, doors | Roof frames, shuttering, packing, light framing, windows |
✓ Answer checked by Claude Opus 5.5 (high effort)
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