How Much Does 1 Grain Of Sand Weigh?

Question

How Much Does 1 Grain Of Sand Weigh?

2 Answers

Answer Question

Answer 1

I work for the NJ state government, so I had to do this 3 times before presenting my findings. No, not really. I used the finest scale we have in our geological survey office and measured 500 grains of sand from a store bought toy box supply. I counted out 100 into 5 piles and averaged them out, then multiplied to get the weight of 1 million. The answer was 46.002 grams. I then filled a 4"x4" glass bought at an art supply store with 46.002 grams of sand and then added 10 more grains to be on the safe side. I can safely state that I am holding 1 million grains of sand in this small jar. To get to a billion I would need to fill 999 more jars. I also like to measure these numbers in seconds - 1 million seconds = 11 1/2 days, 1 billion = 32 years.

Answer 2

An average grain of sand = .5 mm or .05 cm. A sphere with a radius of 0.025 cm has a volume of 2.0833 cm^3, (V = 4/3 pi r^3). Quartz has a density of 2.65 g/cm^3. So, the mass of of a grain of sand 0.5mm in diameter would be 5.5 x 10 ^ --5 grams.

Now that times 1 million would be 55.2 grams or 1.97 ounces. So, that single grain mass times 10 trillion (the number of stars per each person on Earth would be 5.5 x 10 ^8; and in kilograms = 5.5 x 10 ^5; or in pounds that would be 1.2 million pounds.