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Sheet Weight Calculator


From aluminum to stainless steel and MDF to plywood, our sheet weight calculator makes it quick and easy to calculate the weight of sheet goods.

The calculator is incredibly simple to use, although we’ve included step-by-step technical guidance below the calculator. You’ll also find a tutorial here showing how to manually calculate a sheet’s weight, along with handy density data tables for various common materials.

Sheet Weight Calculator:
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Please enter all dimensions above.
Disclaimer: The weights shown in the above calculator are for guidance only and should not form the basis of any calculations where precise or accurate information is required. It isn’t uncommon for theoretical metal weights and densities to vary considerably from actual weights and densities, for example, due to differences in manufacturing processes and sheet compositions. Therefore, you should obtain relevant, accurate information from manufacturers if exact weight calculations are required.

How to Use the Sheet Weight Calculator

  1. The calculator supports two main profile types including rectangular and square sheets, and you can choose these using the ‘Select a Sheet Profile’ dropdown in box (1).

  2. Regardless of the profile type chosen, you can choose from a wide range of sheet types for your calculation using the ‘Type of Sheet’ dropdown in box (2). The following types are available:

    Metal
    • Aluminum
    • Brass
    • Copper
    • Mild (Carbon) Steel
    • Stainless Steel
    • Titanium
    Wood
    • Hardboard
    • Melamine
    • MDF
    • OSB
    • Particleboard
    • Plywood (Softwood)
    • Plywood (Hardwood)
    Other
    • Drywall (Sheetrock)
    • Polystyrene Insulation
    • Polythene
    • Rubber

    The ‘Density’ boxes will automatically be populated based on the type of metal, wood, or other sheet type you choose.

    You can update the ‘Density’ figures if needed, although these are based on average industry figures for each type of sheet. If you’re using a specific type of sheet and you know the density, we’d recommend using the real-life figure in your calculation to produce more accurate results.

  3. Depending on the sheet profile you are using in your calculation, you’ll need to enter various dimensions, for example, ‘Length’, ‘Width’, ‘Diameter’, ‘Thickness’, or ‘Height’ to name a few.

    The calculator is programmed to automatically reformat depending on your chosen sheet profile, so you’ll only see the relevant dimensions for your particular calculation/sheet profile type.

    The calculator supports several unit types from metric millimeters to imperial feet, and you can choose these using the ‘Unit’ dropdown beside each dimension input field.

    !

    Note: If you choose ‘inch’ as a unit, you’ll need to use either whole or decimal numbers instead of fractions. For example, 0.25 instead of 1/4.

    Click the button below to view a table of common sheet dimensions as decimals that you can use in the calculator:


    • Sheet Weight Calculator – Inch to Decimal Conversion Table
      1/8 0.125 1-9/16 1.5625 3-5/8 3.625
      5/32 0.15625 1-5/8 1.625 3-11/16 3.6875
      3/16 0.1875 1-11/16 1.6875 3-3/4 3.75
      7/32 0.21875 1-3/4 1.75 3-13/16 3.8125
      1/4 0.25 1-13/16 1.8125 3-7/8 3.875
      9/32 0.28125 1-7/8 1.875 3-15/16 3.9375
      5/16 0.1325 1-15/16 1.9375 4 4.00
      11/32 0.34375 2 2.00 4-1/8 4.125
      3/8 0.375 2-1/16 2.0625 4-3/16 4.1875
      13/32 0.40625 2-1/8 2.125 4-1/4 4.25
      7/16 0.4375 2-3/16 2.1875 4-5/16 4.3125
      15/16 0.9375 2-1/4 2.25 4-3/8 4.375
      1/2 0.5 2-5/16 2.3125 4-7/16 4.4375
      17/32 0.53125 2-3/8 2.375 4-1/2 4.50
      9/16 0.5625 2-7/16 2.4375 4-9/16 4.5625
      19/32 0.59375 2-1/2 2.50 4-5/8 4.625
      5/8 0.625 2-9/16 2.5625 4-11/16 4.6875
      11/16 0.6875 2-5/8 2.625 5 5.00
      3/4 0.75 2-11/16 2.6875 5-1/16 5.0625
      13/16 0.8125 2-3/4 2.75 5-1/8 5.125
      7/8 0.875 2-7/8 2.875 5-3/16 5.1875
      13/16 0.8125 2-15/16 2.9375 5-1/4 5.25
      15/16 0.9375 3 3.00 5-3/8 5.375
      1 1.00 3-1/16 3.0625 5-7/16 5.4375
      1-1/16 1.0625 3-1/8 3.125 5-1/2 5.50
      1-1/8 1.125 3-3/16 3.1875 5-5/8 5.625
      1-3/16 1.1875 3-1/4 3.25 5-3/4 5.75
      1-1/4 1.25 3-5/16 3.3125 5-7/8 5.875
      1-5/16 1.3125 3-3/8 3.375 5-15/16 5.9375
      1-3/8 1.375 3-7/16 3.4375 6 6.00
      1-7/16 1.4375 3-1/2 3.50    
      1-1/2 1.50 3-9/16 3.5625
  4. You can include multiple units of your chosen profile type in your calculation by changing the figure in the ‘Quantity’ input in box (6).
  5. Once you’ve entered all of the required information, you can use the ‘Calculate’ button to complete your calculation. You can also reset the sheet weight calculator using the ‘Reset’ button if you’d like to complete another calculation.

How to Calculate Sheet Weight

The easiest way to calculate a sheet’s weight is by using the calculator above.

It’s pretty straightforward to calculate the weight manually if preferred, though, using the following equation:

Weight = Sheet Volume x Sheet Density

You can use this same equation regardless of whether you’re working with metric units, such as millimeters, centimeters, and meters, or imperial units, such as feet or yards.

As per the formula, the first step is to calculate the volume of the sheet in question, which is relatively simple for basic shapes such as square or rectangular profiles.

Here’s the equation for working out the volume of your sheet(s):

Volume = Area x Length

The second input you’ll need is the density of your sheet’s material, which we can define as its ‘mass per unit volume,’ or, in other words, how heavy the sheet is for a given size.

It’s pretty easy to find density figures for most sheet types with a quick search online, but we’ve included tables below showing the average density values for various types. We always recommend using a manufacturer’s or supplier’s density data where available, however, as these can vary depending on the sheet’s composition and variances in manufacturing technique, among other things.

Let’s look at a real-life example to show you step-by-step how to calculate the weight of a sheet:

How to Calculate the Weight of a Mild Steel Sheet

To calculate the weight of a rectangular mild (carbon) steel sheet, we’ll need to know three dimensions, as shown in the following diagram:

sheet weight calculator rectangular sheet example image

Whereby:

L = The length of the sheet

W = The width of the sheet

T = The sheet’s thickness

We also need to consider the density of the mild steel, but we’ll focus on the dimensions only for now.

Let’s assume the following dimensions for the mild steel sheet in this example:

  • Length: 2m
  • Width: 1m
  • Thickness: 0.2m
Step One

The first step is to calculate the mild steel sheet’s volume, and we’ll get this by multiplying the cross-sectional area of the sheet by its length.

To get the area, we can multiply the sheet’s width by its thickness as per the following equation:

Area = Width x Thickness
Area = 1m x 0.2m
Area = 0.2m2
Step Two

Now that we have the sheet’s cross-sectional area, we can calculate its overall volume using the following equation:

Volume = Area x Length
Volume = 0.2m2 x 2m
Volume = 0.4m3
Step Three

The final step is to multiply the sheet’s volume by the density of mild steel to find the sheet’s overall weight. We’ll assume a density of 7850 kg/m3 for the mild steel (i.e., carbon steel) in our example as follows:

Weight = Volume x Density
Weight = 0.4m3 x 7850 kg/m3
Weight = 3,140 kg

As shown, if we multiply the sheet’s volume by the typical density of mild steel, we end up with a final weight of 3,140 kg (6922.5 lbs) for the sheet in this example.


Quick Reference Information – Sheet Density Tables

The following tables show the approximate density values for both metric and imperial measurements across various sheet types:

Metal Sheet Density Table

Metal Sheet Density Data

Metal Sheet Type

Approximate Sheet Density

Metric

Imperial

Aluminum 2700 kg/m3 169 lb/ft3
Brass 8730 kg/m3 545 lb/ft3
Copper 8960 kg/m3 559 lb/ft3
Mild (Carbon) Steel 7850 kg/m3 490 lb/ft3
Stainless Steel 7930 kg/m3 495 lb/ft3
Titanium 4500 kg/m3 281 lb/ft3

Wood / Timber Sheet Density Table

Wood / Timber Sheet Density Data

Wood / Timber Sheet Type

Approximate Sheet Density

Metric

Imperial

Hardboard 920 kg/m3 57 lb/ft3
MDF 700 kg/m3 44 lb/ft3
OSB 640 kg/m3 40.0 lb/ft3
Particleboard 695 kg/m3 43 lb/ft3
Plywood (Hardwood) 675 kg/m3 42 lb/ft3
Plywood (Softwood) 550 kg/m3 34 lb/ft3

Other Sheet Density Table

Other Sheet Density Data

Other Sheet Type

Approximate Sheet Density

Metric

Imperial

Drywall (Sheetrock) 612 kg/m3 38 lb/ft3
Polystyrene Insulation 34 kg/m3 2 lb/ft3
Polythene 930 kg/m3 58 lb/ft3
Rubber 1060 kg/m3 66 lb/ft3

Other Helpful Calculators

Calculators by Material Type:
Calculators by Section Type:

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Author: Jon Maxwell
Senior Writer, ToolCrowd
Jon Maxwell writes about various topics for ToolCrowd, including tool reviews, material advice, common home problems, and general DIY advice and how-to articles. His work has been published in national publications for audiences including consumers, homeowners, and industry experts. Jon has a bachelor's degree in Building Surveying and a master's degree in a branch of Civil Engineering focusing on concrete and steel durability. When he isn't writing for ToolCrowd, Jon enjoys completing DIY tasks in his own home, as well as woodworking in his home workshop, snowboarding, and website development. Contact Jonarrow_right_alt
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