Weight of plastic sheets
Posted on Apr 12, 2018
The weight of plastic sheets can be decisive in relation to the desired use. How to calculate the weight of a plastic sheet is explained in detail in a blog post
Spring is finally here and the temperatures are finally pleasant again. The birds are chirping and in the garden at home, the drab brown of the shrubs and trees is turning to a soft, fresh green.
But this also means that there is some work to be done in the garden. The lawn needs to be scarified or the flower bed cleared of weeds.
The weight of plastic sheets is not only an important property for shipping, but also plays a role in the respective intended use, which is why the weight is probably searched for quite frequently via the search function of the online shop.
To determine the weight of a plastic sheet, two parameters are crucial to the game.
For an exact calculation of the weight, as it is carried out in our online shop for the determination of the price, information for the dimensions is necessary to calculate the volume of the plastic sheet.
In our shop, however, you do not have to calculate the weight yourself, because the weight is displayed in all plastic sheets in the item view below the price. It should be noted, however, that the weight displayed corresponds to the total weight according to the selection or entries you have made. This means that this total must be divided by the quantity entered to determine the weight of a single sheet or blank.
Weight calculation for customised plastic sheets
You select the thickness and the dimensions for length and width (all values are entered or selected in millimetres). Our cut configurator then calculates the volume of your cut according to the generally applicable formula for calculating the volume of a cuboid.
V = a * b * c
In our shop, this means in more detail:
Volume (in mm³) = Length (in mm) * Thickness (in mm) * Width (in mm)
V = 5mm * 500mm * 800mm = 2.000.000mm³ = 2.000cm³
Once the volume (V) has been calculated, this is multiplied by the specific physical density (p) of the respective plastic to calculate the weight, or more precisely, the physical mass (m).
m = V * p
Mass (in g)= Volume (in cm³) * Density (in g/cm³)
It should be noted that the values can vary greatly depending on the plastic. While polyethylene is very light and, with a density of between 0.93g/cm³ and 0.97g/cm³, lighter than water, our polytetraflourethylene (also abbreviated PTFE, or Teflon) is one of the heavyweights among plastics with a specific density of approx. 2.18g/cm³.
The density of the respective plastic sheets can be found in the corresponding data sheets of the respective plastic.
For our example, this means that we first have to determine which plastic is to be used. We chose rigid PVC with a physical density of 1.45 g/cm³.
m = 2.000cm³ * 1.44g/cm³ = 2.900g = 2.9kg
This means that a single plastic sheet made of rigid PVC with a thickness of 5mm and a length of 500mm and a width of 800mm has a weight of 2.9kg.
Weight calculation for plastic panels as standard panel
To calculate the weight of a standard panel, you only need to select the thickness, because the dimensions for length and width are already defined by the standard size. In our online shop, these are 2x1 metre or 2000mm for the length and 1000mm for the width.
The calculation of the volume of a standard panel is done according to the same formula as for the plastic panels by cutting. The calculation of the weight is also done according to the same procedure as listed above.