Cork vs. Balsa
Both cork and balsa are wood-based materials. There are 15 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (2, in this case) are not shown.
For each property being compared, the top bar is cork and the bottom bar is balsa.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Compressive (Crushing) Strength, MPa | 1.0 | |
| 7.0 |
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 0.020 | |
| 3.0 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 15 | |
| 1.2 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 0.010 | |
| 0.23 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 0.85 | |
| 14 |
Thermal Properties
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 2000 | |
| 1700 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 0.040 | |
| 0.1 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 200 | |
| 6.5 |
Electrical Properties
| Dielectric Strength (Breakdown Potential), kV/mm | 1.5 | |
| 4.9 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Density, g/cm3 | 0.15 | |
| 0.13 |
Common Calculations
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 0.074 | |
| 13 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 1.6 | |
| 30 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 13 | |
| 99 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 0.13 | |
| 0.45 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 16 | |
| 51 |