I just discovered the word slat and had to look it up, and I don't see what the difference is with a beam. I tried to look it up, but couldn't find any answers for it. Is there a difference?
A beam is a large, thick, and strong piece of wood. A slat is a thin strip of wood. A beam would be used for construction (but not every piece of lumber used for construction would be qualify as a beam). You might see slats used to hold up a mattress, or to make the seat of a bench, or in Venetian blinds.