Ah, but your assumption is that the square post has been cut from the center of the tree and contains
only heartwood. How do you know it wasn't cut from a section of the tree sear the growth rings and
thus contains both sapwood and heartwood?

--
Al Reid

"It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know
for sure that just ain't so." --- Mark Twain

"P van Rijckevorsel" wrote in message ...
todd schreef
Since you're assuming that the round post has the center of the tree as
it's center, I'll assume that the square post is the same.

+ + +
From a practical point of view this assumption is not realistic.
A round post is likely to be 'whole tree'
A square post is likely to be sawn from a bigger trunk.

This means that a round post consists partly of juvenile wood, a weakening
factor. A square post will consist of mature wood.
Ergo: the strength of the material will not be equal in these two cases. It
will be less in a round post
PvR