Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The same packing density can also be achieved by alternate stackings of the same close-packed planes of spheres, including structures that are aperiodic in the stacking direction. The Kepler conjecture states that this is the highest density that can be achieved by any arrangement of spheres, either regular or irregular.
Sphere packing finds practical application in the stacking of cannonballs. In geometry, a sphere packing is an arrangement of non-overlapping spheres within a containing space. The spheres considered are usually all of identical size, and the space is usually three-dimensional Euclidean space.
Diagrams of cubic close packing (left) and hexagonal close packing (right). Imagine filling a large container with small equal-sized spheres: Say a porcelain gallon jug with identical marbles. The "density" of the arrangement is equal to the total volume of all the marbles, divided by the volume of the jug.
Random close packing (RCP) of spheres is an empirical parameter used to characterize the maximum volume fraction of solid objects obtained when they are packed randomly. For example, when a solid container is filled with grain, shaking the container will reduce the volume taken up by the objects, thus allowing more grain to be added to the container.
This yields the greatest possible packing density and the lowest energy state. — — Below is a candidate caption for use in Close-packing article, added 16:33, 26 February 2007 (and revised 20:15, 26 February 2007) — — Shown above is what the science of sphere packing calls a closest-packed arrangement.
For hundreds of a millions of years, the universe existed in the dark ages—an epoch when only primordial gasses existed. Then, a period of reionization, cleared away this foggy existence an ...
For premium support please call: 800-290-4726 more ways to reach us
A compact binary circle packing with the most similarly sized circles possible. [7] It is also the densest possible packing of discs with this size ratio (ratio of 0.6375559772 with packing fraction (area density) of 0.910683). [8] There are also a range of problems which permit the sizes of the circles to be non-uniform.