What If? Lab
What if gold were as common as sand?
Gold is shiny and very rare. Sand is everywhere! What if gold were as common as sand? Let's imagine it with Olly.
Gold makes up only a few parts in every billion of Earth's crust, while silicon, the main element in sand, makes up more than a quarter. Gold never rusts, so tiny amounts of it help our phones work. Imagine gold as common as sand and follow what might change.
Gold makes up only a few parts per billion of Earth's crust (USGS estimates range from 0.001 to 0.006 parts per million), against 27.7 percent for silicon. Its scarcity has a planetary story, and its resistance to corrosion makes it valuable in electronics. This thought experiment makes gold abundant and explores rarity, recycling and use.
The big question
Gold is a shiny yellow metal. It is very hard to find.
Sand is on every beach. What if gold were as easy to find as sand?
People have treasured gold for thousands of years. It's shiny, it never goes rusty, and it's hard to find. Sand is the opposite: it's on beaches, in deserts and under rivers almost everywhere.
So what if gold were as common as sand? This lab is a thought experiment. To explore it, we need to know why gold is rare in the first place, and why a little bit of it is hiding inside the phone in your pocket.
Gold is one of the few elements that occur naturally in metallic form, found in veins and alluvial deposits. Estimates compiled by the U.S. Geological Survey put its abundance in Earth's crust at 0.001 to 0.006 parts per million, and the Royal Society of Chemistry notes that it does not corrode.
This thought experiment asks what would change if gold were as abundant as the silicon in sand. It uses the question to explore where Earth's gold went, why gold is so useful in electronics, and what makes a material rare or common.
Explore the idea
Make a prediction
How much of the ground is gold?
About how much of Earth's crust is gold?
What is gold's approximate abundance in Earth's crust?
- A few parts in a billion
- About one quarter
- About half
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Established fact
Gold is very rare in the ground.
Gold is only a few parts in a billion of Earth's crust; silicon, found in sand, is 27.7 percent.
Gold's crustal abundance is estimated at 0.001 to 0.006 ppm (USGS), versus 27.7 percent for silicon (Royal Society of Chemistry).
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Established fact
Gold carries electricity and never rusts.
Gold conducts electricity well and does not corrode, which makes it useful in electronics.
Gold's conductivity and corrosion resistance suit connectors and chip wiring (Royal Society of Chemistry; USGS).
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An idea scientists discuss
Gold as common as sand is pretend.
What a world with gold as common as sand would be like is an idea, worked out from gold's real properties.
All consequences of abundant gold are reasoned; none is a forecast.
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Established fact
There is only a tiny bit of gold in Earth's crust.
Gold makes up only about 1 to 6 parts in every billion of Earth's crust.
Estimates of gold's crustal abundance range from 0.001 to 0.006 ppm (U.S. Geological Survey Circular 603).
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Established fact
Sand is made from a very common element.
Silicon makes up 27.7 percent of Earth's crust. Sand is mostly silica, which is silicon joined with oxygen.
Silicon is 27.7 percent of the crust by mass, second to oxygen, and occurs chiefly as silica (sand, quartz) and silicates (Royal Society of Chemistry).
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Established fact
Most of Earth's gold sank to the middle.
When Earth formed, molten iron sank to the center and took most of the planet's precious metals with it.
Core formation removed the vast majority of Earth's precious metals; enough lies in the core to coat the surface four meters deep (University of Bristol, 2011).
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Established fact
Space rocks may have brought more gold.
Tiny chemical clues in ancient rocks from Greenland suggest meteorites delivered extra precious metals after Earth's core formed.
A 15 ppm drop in tungsten-182 between nearly 4-billion-year-old Greenland rocks and modern rocks fits a meteorite bombardment more than 200 million years after Earth formed (Willbold, Elliott and Moorbath, Nature, 2011).
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An idea scientists discuss
A different young Earth might have more gold on top.
If gold hadn't sunk with the iron, much more might be near the surface, but that would mean a very different young Earth.
Surface gold at sand-like abundance would need a different accretion and differentiation history; any such scenario is speculative.
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Established fact
Gold keeps electrical parts working well.
Gold is ideal for protecting copper electrical parts because it conducts electricity well and does not corrode. Thin gold wires are used inside computer chips.
Gold electroplating protects copper components because gold conducts well and does not corrode; thin gold wires produce circuits inside computer chips (Royal Society of Chemistry).
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Established fact
Old phones have gold that can be saved.
For every million cell phones recycled, about 75 pounds of gold can be recovered.
Recycling one million cell phones can recover 35 thousand pounds of copper, 772 pounds of silver, 75 pounds of gold and 33 pounds of palladium (U.S. EPA).
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Established fact
Most gold becomes jewelry.
About 40 percent of the gold people use goes into jewelry and about 7 percent into electrical and electronic parts.
USGS estimates global gold consumption, excluding investment funds, at 40 percent jewelry and 7 percent electrical and electronics (Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026).
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Established fact
Pure gold is very soft.
Pure, 24-carat gold is very soft, so jewelry is often made from 18- or 9-carat gold mixed with other metals to make it tougher.
24-carat gold is pure but very soft; 18- and 9-carat alloys are commonly used because they are more durable (Royal Society of Chemistry).
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Established fact
Gold can be hammered super thin.
One gram of gold can be beaten into a sheet a square meter across and just 230 atoms thick.
Gold is the most malleable metal: 1 gram can be beaten into a square-meter sheet about 230 atoms thick or drawn into 165 meters of 20-micrometer wire (Royal Society of Chemistry).
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An idea scientists discuss
Common gold might not feel like treasure.
If gold were common, people might value it for what it does rather than for how rare it is.
Value tied to scarcity might shift toward value tied to function; this lab does not model any economy, and these are ideas only.
How rare gold is
There is only a tiny bit of gold in the ground. Diggers must move lots of rock to find a little.
Sand is made of something very common.
In Earth's crust, gold is only about 1 to 6 parts in every billion. Silicon, the main element in sand, makes up 27.7 percent of the crust by mass, and only oxygen is more common. Sand is mostly silica, silicon joined with oxygen.
Even so, a lot of gold is dug up because people search so hard for it. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that mines around the world produced about 3,300 tonnes of gold in 2025. China, Russia, Australia, Canada and the United States produced the most.
Estimates of gold's crustal abundance compiled by the U.S. Geological Survey range from 0.001 to 0.006 ppm, or 1 to 6 parts per billion. Silicon makes up 27.7 percent of the crust by mass, second only to oxygen; its oxide, silica, occurs as sand, quartz and flint (Royal Society of Chemistry).
The U.S. Geological Survey's Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 estimates world gold mine production at 3,300 tonnes in 2025, up from 3,280 tonnes in 2024. China, Russia, Australia, Canada and the United States, in that order, led production and together supplied 41 percent.
Make gold common
Pretend gold is everywhere, like sand. Gold might not feel special anymore.
But people might use it for lots of things, because it never rusts.
If gold were as common as sand, it might lose its special sparkle as treasure. But because it never rusts and carries electricity well, engineers might use far more of it, for wires, connectors and coatings that last for years.
Gold has limits, though. Pure gold is very soft, so it might not replace steel for bridges or tools. These are ideas, worked out from gold's real properties. Real gold stays rare, so we use it carefully and recycle it.
Gold's scarcity partly explains its cultural value; abundant gold might keep its useful properties while losing its role as treasure. Corrosion resistance and conductivity could make it a common choice for contacts, wiring and protective coatings.
Softness would limit structural use: pure 24-carat gold is very soft, which is why 18- and 9-carat alloys are used for durability. These outcomes are reasoned speculation from gold's chemistry, not predictions about any real economy.
Why gold is rare at the surface
When Earth was young, it was hot and melted. Heavy iron sank to the middle.
Most of the gold sank with it! So the middle of Earth has lots of gold.
When Earth was forming, it was so hot that molten iron sank to the center to make the core. The iron dragged almost all of the planet's precious metals, like gold and platinum, down with it. Researchers at the University of Bristol say there are enough precious metals in the core to cover Earth's surface in a layer four meters thick.
So why is there any gold near the surface? The Bristol team found evidence that a shower of meteorites delivered more precious metals after the core had formed.
During Earth's formation, molten iron sank to form the core, taking the vast majority of the planet's precious metals with it. Yet precious metals in the silicate mantle are tens to thousands of times more abundant than expected.
Matthias Willbold and Tim Elliott of the University of Bristol (Nature, 2011) measured a 15 parts per million decrease in tungsten-182 between nearly 4-billion-year-old Greenland rocks and modern ones, consistent with a meteorite bombardment more than 200 million years after Earth formed. Willbold described about 20 billion billion tonnes of asteroidal material as the source of accessible precious metals.
Gold inside your phone
Phones and computers have tiny bits of gold inside. Gold carries electricity and never rusts.
When old phones are recycled, the gold can be saved.
Gold is ideal for connecting electrical parts because it carries electricity well and does not corrode, so connections stay clean. Thin gold wires are used inside computer chips, and gold is plated onto connectors.
That's why recycling old phones matters. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says that for every million cell phones recycled, about 75 pounds of gold can be recovered, along with 772 pounds of silver and 35 thousand pounds of copper.
Electroplated gold protects copper electrical components because it conducts well and does not corrode, which would break the contact; thin gold wires form circuits inside computer chips (Royal Society of Chemistry). USGS estimates that electrical and electronic uses take about 7 percent of global gold consumption, with jewelry about 40 percent.
The EPA reports that recycling one million cell phones can recover about 75 pounds of gold, 772 pounds of silver, 33 pounds of palladium and 35 thousand pounds of copper, so used electronics are a meaningful secondary source.
Amazing facts
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Gold can be squished into a giant thin sheet.
Just one gram of gold can be beaten into a sheet a square meter across.
One cubic centimeter of gold would make a sheet of 18 square meters (Royal Society of Chemistry).
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Some gold is found as pure metal.
Gold is one of the few elements found in nature as pure metal, in rock veins and river gravels.
Gold occurs in a native state, in veins and alluvial deposits (Royal Society of Chemistry).
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Earth's middle holds lots of gold.
Researchers estimate Earth's core holds enough precious metals to cover the whole planet in a layer four meters thick.
The core's precious-metal content could coat Earth's surface four meters deep (University of Bristol, 2011).
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Seawater has a tiny bit of gold.
There is gold dissolved in seawater, but it's so spread out that no one has found a practical way to collect it.
Seawater holds a vast total of gold at very low concentration; attempts to reclaim it have always failed (Royal Society of Chemistry).
Words to know
- element
- a pure substance made of only one kind of atom, such as gold or silicon
- crust
- the thin, rocky outer layer of Earth
- abundance
- how much of something there is
- corrode
- to be slowly worn away by chemical reactions, as iron does when it rusts
- malleable
- able to be hammered or pressed into thin shapes without breaking
- core
- the hot, mostly iron center of Earth
Discovery challenge
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How much of the ground is gold?
About how much of Earth's crust is gold?
What is gold's approximate crustal abundance?
- A few parts in a billion
- About one quarter
- About half
Show the answer
A few parts in a billion
Just a tiny, tiny bit.
Only a few parts in a billion: estimates range from about 1 to 6.
Roughly 0.001 to 0.006 ppm (USGS estimates).
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Why is gold used in phones?
Why is gold used to coat electrical connectors?
Which two properties make gold ideal for electrical contacts?
- It carries electricity and doesn't corrode
- It is the cheapest metal
- It is magnetic
Show the answer
It carries electricity and doesn't corrode
It carries electricity and never rusts.
It conducts electricity well and doesn't corrode, so connections stay clean.
Good conductivity and resistance to corrosion.
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Where did most of Earth's gold go?
Where did most of Earth's original gold end up?
Where are most of Earth's precious metals today?
- Deep in the core
- In the oceans
- Out in space
Show the answer
Deep in the core
Deep in the middle of Earth.
In the core, carried down by sinking molten iron.
In the core, sequestered during core formation.
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Which element is in sand?
Which element makes up 27.7 percent of Earth's crust and is found in sand?
Which element is second only to oxygen in crustal abundance?
- Silicon
- Gold
- Copper
Show the answer
Silicon
Silicon.
Silicon, found in sand as silica.
Silicon, 27.7 percent by mass.
Experiments to try
- Watch What If? Lab What if pencil lead were diamond? The gray core of a pencil is graphite, a form of carbon. A diamond is carbon too. The difference is how the carbon atoms hold on to each other: in sheets that slide in graphite, in a tight 3D net in diamond. Imagine a pencil with a diamond core and follow what might change.
- Watch What If? Lab What if oil and water mixed? Oil and water won't stay mixed because water molecules cling to each other much more strongly than they cling to oil. But helpers like egg yolk and soap can hold tiny oil drops in water. Imagine oil and water that mixed easily and follow what might change.
Explore next
- Watch What If? Lab What if pencil lead were diamond? The gray core of a pencil is graphite, a form of carbon. A diamond is carbon too. The difference is how the carbon atoms hold on to each other: in sheets that slide in graphite, in a tight 3D net in diamond. Imagine a pencil with a diamond core and follow what might change.
- Watch What If? Lab What if oil and water mixed? Oil and water won't stay mixed because water molecules cling to each other much more strongly than they cling to oil. But helpers like egg yolk and soap can hold tiny oil drops in water. Imagine oil and water that mixed easily and follow what might change.
- Watch Try it What If? Lab What if a balloon floated very high? As a balloon floats higher, the air around it gets thinner and pushes on it less, so the gas inside spreads out and the balloon swells. In our model, a perfectly stretchy balloon launched at sea level is about 14 times its starting size by the time it reaches 20 kilometers.
- Watch What If? Lab What if apples never turned brown? When an apple is cut, a natural chemical in it mixes with oxygen from the air, and the fruit turns brown. Lemon juice and the fridge slow it down, and some apples are now grown to brown less. Imagine apples that never browned and follow what might change.
- Watch What If? Lab What if bubbles could last forever? A soap bubble's skin is a thin sandwich of soap and water, and it pops when the water drains or dries away. Scientists in France made a bubble that lasted 465 days. Imagine bubbles that lasted forever and follow the clues: thin films, drying out and frozen bubbles.
- Watch What If? Lab What if cakes had no baking powder? Look closely at a slice of cake and you'll see it is full of tiny holes. Baking powder makes bubbles of a gas called carbon dioxide, and those bubbles puff up the batter as it bakes. Imagine baking with no baking powder and follow what might happen.
- Watch What If? Lab What if colors never faded? Leave a bright poster in a sunny window and, over weeks, its colors grow pale. Light slowly changes the colored molecules in dyes and inks. Imagine a world where colors never faded, and follow the clues: sunlight, paints and blocking ultraviolet.
- Watch What If? Lab What if concrete could heal its own cracks? Concrete is strong, but it cracks, and water creeping into the cracks can rust the steel inside. Scientists are testing concrete that seals its own cracks, using sleeping bacteria or special lumps of lime. Follow the clues to see what self-healing concrete might change.
For parents & teachers
What children will learn
- Gold is very rare in Earth's crust, only a few parts per billion, while silicon makes up 27.7 percent.
- Most of Earth's gold sank into the core when the planet formed.
- Gold conducts electricity and does not corrode, so electronics use small amounts.
- Recycling old phones and electronics recovers gold and other metals.
Recommended ages: 11 to 17 · About 15 minutes
Talk about it
- What makes something feel valuable: being rare, being useful, or both?
- If gold were as common as sand, what might people build or make with it?
- Why is it worth recycling old phones even though each one holds only a little gold?
Try at home or in class
- With a grown-up, look closely at the gold-colored contacts on an old SIM card or the edge of an old memory card. That thin coating is there because gold doesn't corrode.
- Find out together where your family can recycle old phones and electronics. Make a poster explaining what metals can be recovered from them.
Key vocabulary: element, crust, abundance, corrode, malleable, core
Where these facts come from
- Gold , Royal Society of Chemistry, Periodic Table
- Silicon , Royal Society of Chemistry, Periodic Table
- Gold in Meteorites and in the Earth's Crust (Circular 603) , U.S. Geological Survey
- Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: Gold , U.S. Geological Survey
- Electronics Donation and Recycling , U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
- 2011: Where gold comes from , University of Bristol
Checked, not yet human-reviewed. Last updated October 27, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.