# How much X is there in the world? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 9, 2000, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-x-is-there-in-the-world/8350 "2000-03-09T15:20:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RussellM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed8c4c/32.png) [@RussellM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RussellM)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2000, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-x-is-there-in-the-world/8350/1 "2000-03-09T15:20:00Z")
I have often heard the assertion that all the gold so far refined in the world would fit into a 60 foot (20m) cube. As far as I can see this appears to be reasonable. The World Official Gold Holdings (Jan 2000) as listed [http://www.gold.org/Gra/Statistics/Reserves.pdf](http://www.gold.org/Gra/Statistics/Reserves.pdf) put the total World reserves at 33588 tonnes. Gold has a density of 19300 kg /m3, so the world reserves would fit into a cube approx 12 m on each side. So, Is gold the only substance / material to have this statistic? Does anyone know how much plutonium, U238 or Bisquick exists in the world? Russell ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2000, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-x-is-there-in-the-world/8350/2 "2000-03-09T16:38:00Z")
All this Bisquick in the world fits in our stomaches, silly :). As for plutonium, I dunno. However, I once saw an exibit at a science center where you could compare the weights of equal-volume blocks of aluminum, steel, and spent uranium. Christ, that DU was heavy!!! Plutonium is in the same range on the periodic table, so it’s probably pretty dense. I’d say all the plutonium in the world would fit into a much smaller cube than the gold one. * * * –It was recently discovered that research causes cancer in rats. ---
**Author:** ![tanstaafl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@tanstaafl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanstaafl)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2000, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-x-is-there-in-the-world/8350/3 "2000-03-09T16:53:00Z")
Yeah, but I don’t want to be standing too close when you pile all of it up into one big cube… * * * “It turns out it isn’t so much a law of physics as it is a local ordinance.” ---
**Author:** ![Ursa\_Major](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a88e57/32.png) [@Ursa\_Major](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ursa_Major)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2000, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-x-is-there-in-the-world/8350/4 "2000-03-09T16:55:00Z")
> [@](#): > > How much X is there in the world? How big a rave are you planning? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2000, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-x-is-there-in-the-world/8350/5 "2000-03-10T06:17:00Z")
Didn’t Ronald Reagan once claim that all the nuclear waste in the U.S. would fit under his desk? * * * I understand all the words, they just don’t make sense together like that. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2000, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-x-is-there-in-the-world/8350/6 "2000-03-10T06:26:00Z")
A WAG based on my recollections of chemistry but plutonium is both scarcer and denser than gold, so I’d assume the plutonium cube would have to be smaller than the gold cube. The uranium cube would probably be somewhat larger than the plutonium cube, but if you specify a particular isotope, like 238, than it would be much smaller. ---
**Author:** ![G.B.H.Hornswoggler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c67d28/32.png) [@G.B.H.Hornswoggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G.B.H.Hornswoggler)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2000, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-x-is-there-in-the-world/8350/7 "2000-03-09T19:07:00Z")
As a general rule, there is enough X in the world to make a cube Y feet on each side, or to form a stack as high as Z. * * * …but when you get blue, and you’ve lost all your dreams, there’s nothing like a campfire and a can of beans!