What Is The Most Efficient Way To Pack A Box?

Packing a box is like stacking toys in the most clever way. If you have balls (like oranges), and you want to fit as many into a crate, there are two main ways: you can place them tightly together or leave spaces between them. The tightest way uses something called hexagonal packing, which is how bees build their honeycombs, it’s super efficient! You don’t need any magic; just clever stacking.

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Examples

Packing oranges tightly like they’re dancing together is more efficient than just lining them up in rows.
Beads on a necklace are arranged neatly, but if you use the hexagonal way, you can fit more beads into a smaller space.
Stacking round toys in a box so that each toy touches six others will make your box look full and happy.

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Categories: Math · geometry· packing problems· optimization