# How many grains of sand are there on Earth? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 23, 2009, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-grains-of-sand-are-there-on-earth/507388 "2009-08-23T15:41:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2009, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-grains-of-sand-are-there-on-earth/507388/1 "2009-08-23T15:41:07Z")
±3. Just kidding. Approximately how many grains of sand are there on Earth? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2009, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-grains-of-sand-are-there-on-earth/507388/2 "2009-08-23T15:43:23Z")
To quote _The Life of Brian_: “A lot.” ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2009, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-grains-of-sand-are-there-on-earth/507388/3 "2009-08-23T15:47:17Z")
Well, if you take the entire volume of the earth (1,083,207,317,374 km^3) and divide it up into sand size bits, 1mm on a side, you’ll have 1.08320732 × 10^30 of them. That’ll serve as an upper limit for the answer to your question. ---
**Author:** ![Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8491ac/32.png) [@Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fake_Tales_of_San_Francisco)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2009, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-grains-of-sand-are-there-on-earth/507388/4 "2009-08-23T15:47:55Z")
I wonder if we actually have a name for the number. If it’s possible to guess. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2009, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-grains-of-sand-are-there-on-earth/507388/5 "2009-08-23T16:55:54Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > if you take the entire volume of the earth (1,083,207,317,374 km^3) and divide it up into sand size bits, 1mm on a side, you’ll have 1.08320732 × 10^30 of them. That’ll serve as an upper limit for the answer to your question. Well, the lithosphere (crust) is about 1% of the Earth’s volume and nothing below that can reasonably be considered granular sand. Further, it seems unlikely that even 1% of the lithosphere properly qualifies as sand (assuming sandstone does not). You can thus reduce that exponent to 26. But sand grains can be a lot smaller than 1mm on a side. If we accept something around 0.2mm as average, you can bump the exponent back up to 28. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2009, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-grains-of-sand-are-there-on-earth/507388/6 "2009-08-23T17:41:58Z")
It is going to take me quite a while to finish counting, I’m afraid. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2009, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-grains-of-sand-are-there-on-earth/507388/7 "2009-08-23T17:48:42Z")
14,273, 14,274, 14,275 What? Chicken would be fine. Shit… 1,2,3,4 ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2009, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-grains-of-sand-are-there-on-earth/507388/8 "2009-08-23T17:54:04Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > But sand grains can be a lot smaller than 1mm on a side. I intentionally restricted the size to that of _nice_ sand. As far as I’m concerned, that crappy stuff you have go up and down the beach with a plow just to make it powdery, _does not count as sand!_ Your other points are well taken though. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2009, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-grains-of-sand-are-there-on-earth/507388/9 "2009-08-23T19:30:32Z")
Note: when you get up to how many grains of sand would fill the Universe, then you’d have caught up to [3rd century BC Mathematics](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sand_Reckoner). ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2009, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-grains-of-sand-are-there-on-earth/507388/10 "2009-08-23T19:34:00Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > But sand grains can be a lot smaller than 1mm on a side. If we accept something around 0.2mm as average, you can bump the exponent back up to 28. Also, sand grains are not little boxes neatly stacked upon one another, with no space in between. Their various shapes means that, in every cubic foot of sand, there is a considerable percentage of the volume that is empty space. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2009, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-grains-of-sand-are-there-on-earth/507388/11 "2009-08-23T20:30:42Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > in every cubic foot of sand, there is a considerable percentage of the volume that is empty space. True, but when you’re trying for a rough estimate, a packing density of 90% vs. 75% hardly matters. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2009, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-grains-of-sand-are-there-on-earth/507388/12 "2009-08-23T21:05:19Z")
I just did some basic calculations, and I got: [(number of roads a man must walk)[sup]number of licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsipop[/sup]]\*(number of ways I love thee)! That’s just a rough guess, of course. I think I may have forgotten to carry a two somewhere, so please mind your small, flightless waterfowl. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2009, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-grains-of-sand-are-there-on-earth/507388/13 "2009-08-23T21:45:52Z")
Fake Tales of San Francisco writes: \> I wonder if we actually have a name for the number. If it’s possible to guess. Yes, we have a name for the number. The largest number mentioned so far is 10 to the 30th power. That is a nonillion: > **[Names of large numbers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_large_numbers)** > > Two naming scales for large numbers have been used in English and other European languages since the early modern era: the long and short scales. Most English variants use the short scale today, but the long scale remains dominant in many non-English-speaking areas, including continental Europe and Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America. These naming procedures are based on taking the number n occurring in 103n+3 (short scale) or 106n (long scale) and concatenating Latin roots for its uni... ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2009, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-grains-of-sand-are-there-on-earth/507388/14 "2009-08-23T22:07:46Z")
There’s a big problem of definition. At what point does a grain of sand become a particle of mud? Or a piece of gravel? Or a speck of soil? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2009, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-grains-of-sand-are-there-on-earth/507388/15 "2009-08-23T22:47:01Z")
> [@](#): > > That’s just a rough guess, of course. I think I may have forgotten to carry a two somewhere, so please mind your small, flightless waterfowl. Classic. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2009, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-grains-of-sand-are-there-on-earth/507388/16 "2009-08-23T22:52:26Z")
I believe scripture equates the # of grains of sand to the # of stars. I don’t know if that helps. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2009, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-grains-of-sand-are-there-on-earth/507388/17 "2009-08-23T22:56:21Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > I believe scripture equates the # of grains of sand to the # of stars. I don’t know if that helps. I’ve heard there are more stars than the Earth’s grains of sand. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2009, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-grains-of-sand-are-there-on-earth/507388/18 "2009-08-23T23:26:32Z")
Okay it’s time to get some standardization here. [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sand_grain) states: > [@](#): > > As the term is used by geologists, sand particles range in diameter from 0.0625 (or 1⁄16 mm, or 62.5 micrometers) to 2 millimeters. An individual particle in this range size is termed a sand grain. The next smaller size class in geology is silt: particles smaller than 0.0625 mm down to 0.004 mm in diameter. The next larger size class above sand is gravel, with particles ranging from 2 mm up to 64 mm (see particle size for standards in use). Sand feels gritty when rubbed between the fingers (silt, by comparison, feels like flour). > > ISO 14688 grades sands as fine, medium and coarse with ranges 0.063 mm to 0.2 mm to 0.63 mm to 2.0 mm. In USA, sand is commonly divided into five sub-categories based on size: very fine sand (1⁄16 - 1⁄8 mm diameter), fine sand (1⁄8 mm - 1⁄4 mm), medium sand (1⁄4 mm - 1⁄2 mm), coarse sand (1⁄2 mm - 1 mm), and very coarse sand (1 mm - 2 mm). Interesting to know that sand falls in a granularity category between silt and gravel. Have we considered the grains of sand that might reside on the ocean floor? After all, over 60% of the world is covered by water and how little we know of that underwater world. See you next week for “Sea Hunt”. ---
**Author:** ![Interconnected\_Series\_of\_Tubes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/13edae/32.png) [@Interconnected\_Series\_of\_Tubes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interconnected_Series_of_Tubes)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2009, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-grains-of-sand-are-there-on-earth/507388/19 "2009-08-23T23:35:44Z")
> [@wolf\_meister](#): > > Have we considered the grains of sand that might reside on the ocean floor? After all, over 60% of the world is covered by water and how little we know of that underwater world. See you next week for “Sea Hunt”. God, here it comes… ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2009, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-grains-of-sand-are-there-on-earth/507388/20 "2009-08-23T23:41:31Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I’ve heard there are more stars than the Earth’s grains of sand. If **Squink’s** 10^30 estimate is off by a factor of a Billion, then yes, there are: > **[Imagine the Universe!](https://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/ask_astro/index.html)** > > This site is intended for students age 14 and up, and for anyone interested in learning about our universe. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-grains-of-sand-are-there-on-earth/507388.md?page=2)