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Balsa

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	Balsa
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	Topics Balsa Topic Home Balsa (Ochroma pyramidale, synonym O. lagopus) is a large, fast-growing treeTree A tree is a large, perennial, woody plant.... that can grow up to 30mMetre The metre, or meter , is a measure of length.... (100ft) tall, native to tropical South AmericaSouth America South America is a continent situated in the western hemisphere and, mostly, the southern hemisphere, bordered on the west b... north to southern MexicoFacts About Mexico The United Mexican States, generally known as Mexico is a country located in North America, bordered at the north by t... . It is evergreenEvergreen In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant that retains its leaves all year round, with each leaf persisting for more than 12 ... , or dry-season deciduousDeciduous Deciduous means "temporary" or "tending to fall off" .... if the dry season is long, with large (30–50 cmCentimetre A centimetre is a unit of length that is equal to one hundreth of a metre, the current SI base unit of length.... , 12-20 inInch An inch is the name of a unit of length in a number of different systems, including English units, Imperial units, and Unit... ) weakly palmately lobed leaves. The name balsa derives from SpanishSpanish language Spanish or Castilian is an Iberian Romance language.... for a raftRaft A raft is any flat floating structure for travel over water.... . Despite being very soft, balsa is classified as a hardwoodHardwood The term hardwood designates wood from broad-leaved or angiosperm trees.... , and is the softest commercial hardwood. The timberTimber Timber is a term used to describe wood, either standing or that has been processed for use—from the time trees are fel... is very soft and light with a coarse open grain. The densityDensity Density is a measure of mass per unit of volume.... of dry balsa woodWood Summary Wood is derived from woody plants, notably trees but also shrubs.... ranges from 100–200 kg/m³ (6.24-12.49 lb/ft³), with a typical density of about 140 kg/m³ (8.74 lb/ft³) (about one third the density of other hard woods). This makes it a very popular material for model buildingModel building Model building is a hobby that involves the creation of models either from kits or from materials and components acquired by... and buoyancy materials (lifebelts, etc.), and was famously used by Thor HeyerdahlThor Heyerdahl Thor Heyerdahl was a Norwegian ethnographer and adventurer with a scientific background in zoology and geography.... in his raft Kon-TikiKon-Tiki *Kon-Tiki* was the name given to a raft by Norwegian explorer and writer Thor Heyerdahl in his 1947 expedition.... . It is also a very popular material to use when making wooden crankbaitCrankbait Overview A Crankbait is a type of fishing lure that dives under the surface and wiggles from side to side when pulled through the wat... s for fishing, as it is low density but high in strength. Balsa wood is used to make very light, stiff structures in model bridge tests and for the construction of light wooden aeroplanes, most famously the World War IIWorld War II World War II, or the Second World War, was a worldwide conflict fought between the Allied Powers and the Axis Powers ,... de Havilland MosquitoDe Havilland Mosquito The de Havilland Mosquito was a military aircraft that excelled in a number of roles during World War II.... . It is also used in the floorpanFloorpan The floorpan is a large sheet metal stamping that often incorporates several smaller welded stampings to form the floor of a... of the Chevrolet Corvette Z06Chevrolet Corvette The Chevrolet Corvette is a sports car first manufactured by Chevrolet in 1953.... sandwiched between two sheets of carbon fibre. In table tennis blades, a balsa layer is typically sandwiched between two pieces of thin plywoodPlywood Plywood was the first type of engineered wood to be invented.... . Balsa wood is also used in laminates with glass-reinforced plasticFacts About Glass-reinforced plastic Glass-reinforced plastic, is a composite material or fiber-reinforced plastic made of a plastic reinforced by fine fibers ma... (fiberglass) for making high-quality balsa surfboards and the decksDeck (ship) Summary A deck is a permanent covering over a compartment or a hull of a ship.... and topsidesTopsides On an offshore oil platform, Topsides refers to the surface hardware installed.... of many types of boats, especially pleasure craft under 30mMetre The metre, or meter , is a measure of length.... (100 ft) in length. Today balsa is the most favoured raw material for wind rotor blade designers. Balsa wood is used as core material in composites especially wind energy rotor blades for getting the required strength on leading edge of rotor blade. But availability of balsa is a critical issue today as plantation is limited to only North American region. See also PaulowniaPaulownia *Paulownia* is a genus of between 617 species of plants in the monogeneric family Paulowniaceae, related to and some...