Are there more stars in the universe than grains of sand in the Earth? My ten year old daughter asked me this question at breakfast and I initially said yes, but on second thought I was also puzzled.
A quick google gave me these (approximate) figures:


7.5 x 1018 grains of sand in all the beaches and deserts of the world
7 x 1022 stars in the observable universe


If these are reasonable estimates, then there are approximately nine thousand stars in the observable universe for each grain of sand on Earth. (By observable universe, I mean in all the galaxies that we can detect with our most powerful telescopes.)

Robert Krulwich: Which Is Greater, The Number Of Sand Grains On Earth Or Stars In The Sky?