The answer to 'are carpenter ants the same as termites' is no, carpenter ants and termites are not the same. Carpenter ants and termites are two distinct types of wood-destroying insects, with different characteristics, behaviors, and methods of damage.
Carpenter ants are large, black ants that burrow into wood to create nests, but they do not actually eat the wood. Instead, they hollow out the wood to create their nests and galleries. Termites, on the other hand, are small, pale-colored insects that feed on the cellulose in wood, causing significant structural damage as they consume the wood from the inside out.