Sand

Sand is a block type that was first added to Minecraft in version 0.0.14a. Sand has a single texture that is put on all six sides of the block. A notable fact about Sand is that if there is no block below it, it will fall until it lands on the next available block, thus making it one of four blocks which gravity applies to (the others being gravel, water, and lava). Sand can be found in large quantities in certain areas of the map, especially in Desert biomes. Beaches that appear by lakes or by the ocean can also be made of sand up to four blocks deep, extending down to the Stone layer. Sometimes Cavern tunnels branch up underneath Beaches or sand plugs at the bottom of lakes. This creates natural floating Sand that will fall if a nearby block is updated. Before Beta 1.3, players would always spawn on sand in single-player Survival mode.

Sand can be mined easily by hand, although using a shovel is faster. Sand gives resources when mined with any tool. Sand has a very low block resistance. When Sand is being affected by gravity and falling, it exhibits a smooth falling animation. If falling sand lands on a mob or the player and covers their head, it will suffocate them until they move out of the block.

Sand can be used in the construction of Airlocks and the creation of mob suffocation traps. Sand is not often used to build structures with because it is affected by gravity. Nonetheless, some players use non-gravity-affected blocks to support Sand.

A Sand Block can be smelted into a Glass block. Four sand blocks are used in the Crafting recipe of TNT together with Gunpowder. Four sand blocks may also be used to create sandstone.

If falling Sand lands on certain blocks like Torches or Steps, it will disintegrate into a sand resource block.

As of Beta 1.3, beaches which are sufficiently deep (2-3 levels) will have naturally occurring sandstone at their base.

Current Uses

 * Can be used in building but Sand is affected by gravity so if you use it in building be careful. Sandstone is a preferable alternative to Sand in building.
 * Used to make:
 * Glass
 * Sandstone
 * TNT
 * Airlocks

History
Sand has been available for use since Classic Mode. During that time, Sand blocks were rare and only appeared naturally in one block-thick beaches(Usually by water or in the middle of a landscape). These beaches were always level and below Ocean level. Sand instantly appeared at the lowest point it could go when it is when placed above an air block without any sort of falling animation. Destroying a pillar made from sand from the bottom would cause the sand to disappear from the top first. These attributes were present until the release of Infdev.

Map editors could be used to create floating Sand, although the server would crash if the Sand was affected from its state.

Trivia

 * An old glitch in Classic mode allowed players to raise the height of a fluid block by placing Sand over it. The Sand would stay suspended in mid-air until it was broken. When broken, a fluid block corresponding to the type below the sand would appear where the block was. The suspended fluid block would remain immobile until a block was placed next to it, causing a flood.
 * Saplings can temporarily be placed on sand, but only if there is snow on the sand. The sapling will eventually pop out of place.
 * If a block of sand has snow on it and is made to fall, the snow is destroyed.
 * Floating sand can be generated naturally in the game though this isn't common. If the "floating sand" is disturbed or if a block is removed it will all collapse. (Example of floating sand: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLqlS3LwL44)