Our easy-to-use Sand Calculator allows you to calculate the volume of sand needed based on height, width, and depth. It also allows you to calculate the sand cost based on its price. Sand is a material that we meet with all the time but do not have extra knowledge about it. That is why we prepared this Sand calculator and this text for you. So if you were wondering how to calculate volume of sand or how much sand do I need, what is sand material, etc., continue reading!

Meanwhile, if you are interested in some more useful calculators and information, you can find many interesting posts and online tools on our site. For instance, see our conversion category if you want to do various conversions. Maybe you want to do some calculations with exponents, then see our Dividing Exponents Calculator. On the other hand, maybe you are interested in some calculation in finance, then see our finance category. You can calculate your rent with our Net Effective Rent Calculator, or GDP per Capita.

Take a look other related calculators, such as:

What is Sand?

Sand is defined as a granular material composed of finely divided rock and minerals. The word sand probably originates from an Old English word, the old Dutch word “sant,” which became “zand.” Sand grains are smaller than gravel but coarser than silt. There are different types and soils of sand, which we will talk about later. First, there are a few exact definitions of sand. You can also describe sand as particles with a diameter between 0,074 and 4,75 millimeters. In terms of particle size, sand particles have a diameter from 0.0625 mm, a volume of approximately 0.00012 cubic millimeters, to 2mm, a volume of approximately 4.2 cubic millimeters. Also, sand density is 1442 kilograms (1,44 tons) per cubic meter. If you are interested in which types of sand there are or what sand coverage is, keep reading!

Types of Sand

You may think that all sand is the same, but it is not! There are about 20 different kinds of sand in the world. However, nobody knows the exact amount of sand types, so it is impossible to make a completely accurate sand classification. All of these sand types have their differences in diameter and size. We will explain how our Sand calculator works in the next few paragraphs, even if you never hand any contact with sand.

Sand Calculator Formula

We will split this paragraph about sand calculator formulas into two parts, the volume part of the calculator and the price based on the weight needed part of the calculator. Formulas for both parts are very simple, so you will easily understand them. 

If you want to calculate the volume of the sand for some space; there are two elementary formulas. Both formulas are pretty much the same; it’s just that in the first one we put area instead of height and width, alongside with depth.

V=D\times A

In the second formula, instead of area, we write height and width symbols alongside with depth.

V=D \times h \times w

The other part of the calculator also consists of 2 very simple formulas. The job of this part is to calculate the weight of sand you need and the price to buy that weight. In these formulas, density is labeled as “d” (in this case, the density is 1601,948 kilograms per cubic meter), and the price of sand per cubic meter is labeled as “ppm.”

Weight\; needed=V \times d
Price=Weight\; needed\, \times  ppm

So if you wondered how to calculate volume of sand or the price of sand, here is the answer to your questions.

How Much Sand Do I Need?

As you already saw, our calculator allows you to calculate the exact volume of sand based on the height, width, and depth of some space. You will get exactly how many kilograms or cubic meters of sand are required. Later in this text, we will give you some examples from this calculator. The volume of the sand and the measurements can be expressed in meters, inches, and yard also. You can also express area in square meters, feet, yards, etc.

Sand Calculator – How to Use?

As with most of our calculators, this sand calculator is very easy to use. It is basic math, so even if you are never using any calculators of this type, you should not have any problems. In the first part of the calculator, you have three fields to fill in:

  • length
  • width
  • depth

and for the second part, all you need to know is the price per tonne you are paying for the sand. After entering that information, our sand calculator will give you all the answers you are looking for.

Sand Calculator – Example

Here is a quick example, so we make sure that everything is clear. Let’s imagine that you have to fill a space with a length of 2 meters (2,1 yard), a width of 3 meters, and a depth of 4 meters. After you measured all of this, you found a shop that sells sand at $50 per metric tonne. We know that the area comes up to 6 square meters (65 square feet) by multiplying the length by width. Now we use the formulas that we previously presented.

V=4 \;m \times6\;m^{2}=24\,m^{3}

After we calculated the volume needed, we calculated the weight and the price.

Weight\; needed=24\;m^{3}\times1601,948\; kg/m^{3}=38,45\; t
Price=38,45\; t\times \$50 = \$1,922.5

And as we already mentioned, you can express all of these answers in inches, yards, feet, etc. Knowing these formulas is important because sand is in contact with gravel and concrete. In addition, input these values in our calculator as explained and get your results.

FAQ

What type of material is sand?

As we already said, sand is a granular material composed of tiny rock parts and minerals. Sand can also be described as a residual material of preexisting rocks. Therefore, it contained the materials in the rock before it fell apart.

How do I calculate how much sand I need?

Calculating the amount of sand is very easy. The amount varies based on the dimensions of the space you have to fill. If you want to calculate the amount of sand you need, you multiply the area of the space by its depth. And then, you multiply the result by sands density. The result will be the amount of sand in kilograms.

How do you figure cubic feet of sand?

Sand is mostly sold in bags that measure it by cubic foot. Next, you need to know the volume of sand you want to purchase. This all can be easily calculated through our sand calculator.

How do you calculate one unit of sand?

Unit weight of sand is calculated by the product of the density of sand and the standard sand gravity.

How much sand do I need for my sandbox?

The amount of sand needed to fill up a sandbox depends on its size and shape. Sandboxes are usually 1-3 inches deep. You need to calculate the volume of the sandbox and then multiply it by sand density. For example, if you have a turtle sandbox 1 inch deep, you will need 50 pounds of sand to fill it up.

What is the density of sand?

Dry sand has a density of 1601,948 kg/m3. If the sand is loose, it has a 1442 kg/m3. As you can see in our Sand Calculator, density is very important when calculating the weight of sand.