• Question: how many nanometers is in a grain of sand?

    Asked by garfield is god to Hugh on 7 Nov 2018.
    • Photo: Hugh Manning

      Hugh Manning answered on 7 Nov 2018:

      Geologists say that a sand particle is between 0.0625 mm to 2 mm.

      The mm means millimeter, its probably the smallest unit of length on one of your rulers, it means you take 1 meter and divide it by one thousand (1,000).

      A nm means a nanometer, that means you take 1 meter and divide it by one billion (1,000,000,000).

      If we convert 0.0625 mm and 2 mm to nanometers we have
      62,500 nanometers to 2,000,000 nanometers.

      Here’s a great video which explains what a nanometer is!

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