How Silica Gel Took Over the World

“That single gram of silica gel could have an internal surface area of eight hundred square meters—the size of almost two basketball courts.“

Can someone help explain this? I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around this. The tiny packet has this much surface area due to how much space exists within the balls???

Yes, think of it like crumpling up tissue paper into a tiny little ball. Lots of surface area, but it can be packed into a really small size.