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Cracking Kepler's sphere-packing problem

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Visit this site: http://www.sciencenews.org/sn_arc98/8_15_98/fob7.htm
Author:Ivars Peterson; Science News Online
Description: The familiar piles of neatly stacked oranges at a supermarket represent a practical solution to the problem of packing spheres as tightly as possible. Now, a mathematician has proved that no other arrangement of identical spheres fills space more efficiently. That result - if verified - would finally solve a problem that has stymied mathematicians for more than 300 years. Thomas C. Hales of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor announced the feat this week and posted his set of proofs on the Internet.
Levels: High School (9-12), College
Languages: English
Resource Types: Articles
Math Topics: Order/Lattices, Convex/Discrete Geometry, Higher-Dimensional Geometry

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