The World's Gold
How big is all the gold ever mined? Let's find out using material densities.
Total Gold Mined
Estimates suggest about 200,000 tonnes of gold have been mined throughout history:
total_gold = 200000 to 210000 tonne205000 [200000, 210000] tonne {mass}
Volume Calculation
Using gold's density:
gold_volume = total_gold / rho_gold10.6 [10.4, 10.9] (tonne m^3) / kg {volume}
All the gold ever mined has a volume of about 10.6 [10.4, 10.9] (tonne m^3) / kg {volume}.
The Golden Cube
If we formed it into a cube:
cube_side = gold_volume^(1/3)
cube_side_m = cube_side as m21.98 [21.80, 22.16] m {length}
The cube would be about 21.98 [21.80, 22.16] m {length} on each side - roughly the size of a tennis court!
Comparison with Other Materials
If we had the same mass of other materials, how big would they be?
steel_volume = total_gold / rho_steel
aluminum_volume = total_gold / rho_aluminum
wood_volume = total_gold / rho_wood
steel_cube = steel_volume^(1/3) as m
aluminum_cube = aluminum_volume^(1/3) as m
wood_cube = wood_volume^(1/3) as m59.2 [73.0, 79.4] m {length}
Same mass would give us:
- Steel cube: 29.66 [29.40, 29.94] m {length} per side
- Aluminum cube: 42.3 [41.9, 42.8] m {length} per side
- Wood cube: 59.2 [73.0, 79.4] m {length} per side
Density Comparisons
How do common materials compare?
gold_to_water = rho_gold / rho_water
steel_to_aluminum = rho_steel / rho_aluminum
ice_floats = rho_ice / rho_water0.917 [0.907, 0.927]
- Gold is 19.30 [19.20, 19.40]x denser than water
- Steel is 2.91 [2.84, 2.97]x denser than aluminum
- Ice density ratio to water: 0.917 [0.907, 0.927] (that's why it floats!)
Olympic Swimming Pool of Gold
An Olympic pool is 50m x 25m x 2m:
pool_volume = 50 m * 25 m * 2 m
pool_of_gold = pool_volume * rho_gold4.825e+7 [4.800e+7, 4.850e+7] kg {mass}
A swimming pool filled with gold would weigh 4.825e+7 [4.800e+7, 4.850e+7] kg {mass} - about 2.5x all the gold ever mined!