What is the difference between random access memory and long-term memory?

In RAM, data is stored exactly as long as power is supplied to the memory microcircuit, i.e. it is volatile, unlike non-volatile memory, which does not lose data for a long time (years) when the power is turned off. In addition, RAM works much faster (by orders of magnitude) than long-term memory (faster read-write, access time, etc.), which is explained by the peculiarities of its architecture. Also, 1 GB of RAM is still much more expensive than 1 GB of non-volatile memory of any other type (hard disk, flash drive, optical disk, etc.).