pic: Wood Coast Drive

[EricH]

Originally Posted by Sperkowsky

Plywood loses to poly on strength to weight. [...] I stood on a freely Standing peice of 1/16 lexan and it just bent I stepped off bent right back into shape no problem. I can't say the same for a piece of 1/16 plywood.

Which is lighter? Think about that one for just one moment.

You're confusing strength and strength-to-weight.

Here's an example: Steel is stronger* than aluminum. But aluminum tends to be the material of choice** in applications that need low weight, despite being weaker. Why is that?

Because aluminum, in general, is stronger for the same weight. Some alloys of steel are very light. Most are not. Use aluminum and you get a lighter weight, even if you have to use more material to do it, for the same strength.


So: if you got an equal weight of plywood and polycarb in the same general shape, which would break first?


*I do need to point out that this is a generalization--there are, in fact different kinds of strength, and because of that, any declaration that X is stronger than Y is dependent on application. In this particular case, it's true mostly across the board.

**Excluding exotic materials or odd applications, of which there are plenty.