I’m of the view that this is a semantic question where we have a word, “pile”, that describes a general amount but doesn’t have a specified quantity to it, and so the only way we can determine the amount of units required to constitute a pile at the bare minimum, is through public consensus on the most commonly shared idea we generally have when we think of a pile.
I also think it’s possible for there to be a “range of graduation” between a non-pile and a pile, so for example “a non-pile becomes a pile somewhere between x grains and x grains” (depending on what most people think this range is), and if a given number of grains falls below this range, it would necessarily be only a minority of people that would still accept it to be a pile.
So I plan to count the answers here and see if we can come to some kind of consensus or at least most common or average opinion. For sake of not skewing the results, I won’t suggest my opinion on what I think the number or range of grains is upon which a non-pile becomes a pile. What do you think it is?
As many others have said, “pile” is not about number: it’s about distribution. I’d suggest trying to specify the overall slope of a number of objects or something: if it rises at a certain rate it becomes a pile rather than a layer, up until it becomes a tower. Or something like that.
When the sands of the hour glass feel like the days of our time.
A pile of sand has to be cone shaped. Anybody who didn’t take a conical shape in mind for their answers should be disqualified instantly, i.e. 3. As it would take at least 4 grains of sand to get to a piramidal shape. Which would be somewhat close to conical. But still unrecognisable as a pile. I think a minimal height of 5 grains should be achieved. At an angle of 34 degrees, that’s around 500 grains.
We should focus on the circumference-to-height ratio.
Minimum number of grains of sand for a pile is four.
Three for the base layer, one for the second layer that makes it a pile.
Beyond that, whether it’s a pile depends on whether the sand is actually piled up.
You only need three if you can balance one grain of sand on two
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Man I can’t get this spacing right. You get what I mean
Nah that doesnt count. It cant be just one grain thick (from the side), it has to be roughly cone-shaped.
Lmao even among those of us willing to push the definition of a “pile” to its absolute limits, there are differences
Imo, if you can stack one grain of sand onto another, you can have a pile of 2
So, not really and answer to this specific question, but if you like this kind of problem I suggest looking up “emergent phenomena.” It’s basically about how scale can gradually but drastically change the behavior of a system. Going back to sand, for example. At an atomic level, sand is a solid, and just a couple of grains of sand behave very much like particles. But, when you get enough sand together, it starts behaving like a liquid.
As many as it takes to stack the grains, so it least 2.
I was thinking that, but then I thought - would I call 2 apples next to each other, or even stacked on top of the other, a “pile”? I don’t think so. So I would say a stack that has a solid base, so probably at least 4 - at least 3 to form a base, and then at least one more to sit on the base, forming the “pile”
But that’s just my stoned brain rambling, so make of it what you will lol
137
I was always taught 138 but that’s just me.
What the fuck??
138 gang assemble!
At what point is a sauce not a curry, soup or drink?
Bug your indian friends by calling Ketchup a tomato curry.
When you give up and stop counting, it becomes a pile.
Edi: And if you give up without even attempting to count, then it’s officially a “shitload”.
73.5
Three. Just two grains is a stack.
What if they are side by side
That’s very arrangement dependent!
Every pile is also grains, and every grain is a bit like a pile, in that it sits on something and has one or more peaks. I’d say a pile and a grain are just separate simplifications of sand. A very small collection of grains, say 100, may be best captured by one or the other depending on application.
Why yes, I do like the pragmatist school of philosophy, why do you ask? /s
I understand “pile” more as an orientation than an amount. You could have a million grains of sand all in a row and I’d call it something like a “line” of sand rather than a “pile”. To that end I’d say the minimum would maybe be 4 grains arranged in a triangular pyramid?
A “layer” of sand is not a pile. 2 or more sand grains stacked could be a pile but it’s barely visible.
