eli5: how is there only enough gold in the world to fit a cube under the Eiffel tower, when countries have gold reserves, gold jewellery is common and gold is frequently used in industrial appliances?
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Someone years ago posted a [handy infographic](https://demonocracy.info/infographics/world/gold/gold.html) that I’ve seen linked a few times since – it’s helpful to see exactly how valuable and dense gold is. Countries do have gold reserves, but these are maintained in bars or coins, which naturally leave a lot of space between each other. I’m not sure if the cube at the bottom of that infographic would fit neatly under the Eiffel Tower, but it very well could – if you haven’t been, the tower is freaking huge and the space below is a lot to take in. You could fit a surprisingly huge cube in that span.
Keep in mind that while lots of people own gold jewelry and gold is used in electronics and stuff, it’s only a tiny amount, often less than an ounce, used in each case, and it’s often mixed with other metals (meaning it’s less that 24 karat or pure gold), taking down the amount in total. I’d be willing to bet that if you took all of the gold present (jewelry, appliances, etc) in the houses of a few city blocks and melted them, keeping just the pure gold, that amount would fit comfortably into your palm. That’s how little is actually used in everything but *really* extravagant jewelry, or actual coins and bars that are either kept in reserve or valued as investments or collectors’ pieces.
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