What are the differences between softwood and hardwood?

Answer 1

== == == == Softwood is the wood of coniferous trees, such as pine and spruce, where as hardwood comes from decidious trees such as oaks and maples. Paper made from softwood contains longer fibers, and is much stronger and rougher than paper made from hardwood trees. For this reason, it is used for making materials that need to be very strong and durable, such as shipping containers. Hardwood paper, on the other hand, has shorter fibers and therefore is smoother. It is used for making materials that are good to write on.

Answer 2

== The primary difference is a "technical" or scientific one, and lots of folks might not like it. It's all about the seeds that trees produce to reproduce (and all trees produce seeds). A softwood tree has "naked" seeds, like the pine, whose seeds develop in a pine cone, then fall out to the ground. The softwoods are said to be a gymnosperm. The hardwood trees produce seeds with a covering, and these trees are said to be an angiosperm, like the oak, which produces an acorn. Balsa wood, which is about as "light" a wood as one can find, is actually a hardwood under this (correct) definition. Wood from trees that have cones are grouped into the category softwoods, and trees with leaves are considered hardwoods. This is generally correct, but there are exceptions, one very hard "softwood" is southern yellow pine (as hard as western maple) and balsa is a very soft "hardwood".

Soft woods are used for residential framing, whereas hardwoods are used for making fine furniture, wooded floors, cutting boards, hammer and axe handles and custom made cabinets.

Answer 3

Generally, hardwoods are deciduous trees -that is, they have broad, thin leaves that they drop for winter.

Softwoods are coniferous -that is, they have needles or needle-like leaves that they DO NOT drop for winter, causing many to also be referred to as evergreens.

Answer 4

The difference is that a softwood is soft-wooded and a hardwood is hard-wooded.

Its just common sense... c'mon people THINK.

I'm a 7th grader and I even know that....

Answer 5

hard woods are deciduous, that bear fruit or flowers, soft woods are pines, that bear cones. ~metalumbreon

Answer 6

softwood grows faster, so it is cheaper and more renewable.

Also, many species of softwood trees feature straight central trunks, which is more conducive to producing lumber.

Answer 7

No, not usually, but the flexibility of them make them more useful in some situations.