Math Drills
Packing Spheres in a Box
Word Problems
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What this worksheet covers
- Topic
- Circles and Spheres
- Worksheet
- Packing Spheres in a Box
Circles give way to spheres. Word problems show three spheres in a row inside a tube and six packed two deep and three across in a box, and both directions are worked: from the length of the container to the diameter or radius of a sphere, and from the radius of a sphere to the length or width of the container.
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The length of a container is fixed by how many sphere diameters line up along it. Count in radii instead and every answer comes to half. Dividing the length found by the number of spheres in that direction, and finding one portion equal to the radius, means the step of turning it into a diameter was skipped.
The way of reading a length in a figure as radii and diameters, gained in Overlapping Circles, works just as well for spheres. Decimals leaves figures behind and starts a new way of writing numbers, with a point set between the places.
- Tube Length→Sphere Diameter, Radius1 question
- Sphere Radius→Tube Length1 question
- Box Length, Width→Sphere Diameter, Radius1 question
- Sphere Radius→Box Length, Width1 question
