Plywood is a common building material made from thinly sliced veneers (thin sheets of wood) from a variety of tree types (pine, oak, poplar). The veneers are glued and pressed together at right angles to make a strong construction material that is usually 4 feet wide by 8 feet long. Plywood is available in a variety of thicknesses from 1/4 inch up to 1 1/2 inch. The calculation of the weight of a piece of plywood is not difficult.
Determine the weight of a square foot of 1/2-inch-thick unsanded plywood for this example. This can be found in the Plywood Design Specification (see Resources) and is 0.68kg. per square foot.
Calculate the total square footage of a 4- by 8-foot piece of plywood. This is done by multiplying 4 times 8 for an area (square footage) of 32 square feet.
Multiply the weight of a 1/2-inch-thick, unsanded piece of plywood by the total square footage. This calculation is 32 square feet times 6.8kg. per square foot, for a total of 21.8kg.