Sand doesn’t mean what you think it means.

Everyone’s been to a beach, or maybe even a desert, and thought, “Now this is sand!” Truth is, you may have been right. But not because of what the stuff was made of. Sand doesn’t need to be made of any specific compound at all. Even fake sand is real sand.

What does that mean? Well, sand is actually referring to the grain size. Specifically, it’s a range between 0.0625mm and 2mm. This can vary by extremely small differences depending on subdisciplines of geosciences, of course. But the point is: sand is the size of the sediment. It can come from any number of sources — from weathered and eroded rocks to broken up marine shells, to precious gemstones — but if it’s not between 0.0625mm and 2mm, it’s not sand.

Learn About Adam Deitsch Here