# 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:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Labtrash](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/labtrash/32/528_2.png) [@Labtrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labtrash)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2009, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-grains-of-sand-are-there-on-earth/507388/21 "2009-08-24T01:52:06Z")
> [@Interconnected\_Series\_of\_Tubes](#): > > God, here it comes… you know, once, for 20 min… Oh, forget it… ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2009, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-grains-of-sand-are-there-on-earth/507388/22 "2009-08-24T02:58:16Z")
Interesting to note that Archimedes addressed the question of haw many grains of sand it would take to fill the universe (as he knew it), wau back in the third century BCE. It’s usually translated as “The Sand Reckoner”. In the course of his investigations, to make the problem tractable, Archimedes invented a sort of scientific notation. Fascinating Stuff: > **[The Sand Reckoner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sand_Reckoner)** > > The Sand Reckoner (Greek: Ψαμμίτης, Psammites) is a work by Archimedes, an Ancient Greek mathematician of the 3rd century BC, in which he set out to determine an upper bound for the number of grains of sand that fit into the universe. In order to do this, Archimedes had to estimate the size of the universe according to the contemporary model, and invent a way to talk about extremely large numbers. > The work, also known in Latin as Arenarius, is about eight pages long in translation and is addres... ---
**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 24, 2009, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-grains-of-sand-are-there-on-earth/507388/23 "2009-08-24T19:22:43Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Interesting to note that Archimedes addressed the question of haw many grains of sand it would take to fill the universe (as he knew it), wau back in the third century BCE. … [Psst.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=11475640&postcount=9) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2009, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-grains-of-sand-are-there-on-earth/507388/24 "2009-08-24T19:34:53Z")
6,934,385,563,654,372,249,762,123,847,935,882 My post is my cite ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2009, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-grains-of-sand-are-there-on-earth/507388/25 "2009-08-24T19:44:35Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > 6,934,385,563,654,372,249,762,123,847,935,882 > > My post is my cite Yes, but while you were counting, a few quintillion lost some of their mass and became grains of silt. Go back and count faster next time. ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2009, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-grains-of-sand-are-there-on-earth/507388/26 "2009-08-24T19:56:32Z")
Ok, I’ll bite - How can anyone say how many stars there are in the universe? Do we have an idea of how large this infinite thing is? ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2009, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-grains-of-sand-are-there-on-earth/507388/27 "2009-08-24T20:07:56Z")
> [@CC](#): > > Ok, I’ll bite - How can anyone say how many stars there are in the universe? Do we have an idea of how large this infinite thing is? My guess is: we know the volume of the visible universe (i.e., the sphere with radius of the most distant visible object); we know the density of galaxies in our neighbourhood; and we know roughly the number of stars in an average galaxy. Multiply those three numbers together, and you have an estimate of the number of stars. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-grains-of-sand-are-there-on-earth/507388/28 "2009-08-25T00:13:43Z")
> [@](#): > > PSST Dammit – I looked that time. If you don’t put “Archimedes” in your post, it ain’t my fault… ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-grains-of-sand-are-there-on-earth/507388/29 "2009-08-25T00:53:21Z")
Actually, it’s a little-known fact that there are really only seven. The rest are impostors. ---
**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 25, 2009, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-grains-of-sand-are-there-on-earth/507388/30 "2009-08-25T02:24:17Z")
Fool: The reason why the seven stars are no more than seven is a pretty reason Lear: Because they are not eight? Fool: Precisely. You’d make a fine fool. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-grains-of-sand-are-there-on-earth/507388/31 "2009-08-25T05:18:59Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > I believe scripture equates the # of grains of sand to the # of stars. I don’t know if that helps. According to the Science Channel, there are more stars than grains of sand. I just learned that today. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-grains-of-sand-are-there-on-earth/507388/32 "2009-08-25T05:21:10Z")
Are we including cat litter? ---
**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 25, 2009, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-grains-of-sand-are-there-on-earth/507388/33 "2009-08-25T16:26:43Z")
A picture really is worth a thousand words… [http://www.rense.com/general72/size.htm](http://www.rense.com/general72/size.htm) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-grains-of-sand-are-there-on-earth/507388.md?page=1)