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Packing problem

Packing problems are one area where mathematics meets puzzles. Many of these problems stem from real-life packing problems.

In a packing problem you are given

Usually the packing requires to be without gaps and overlaps, but in some packing problems the overlapping (of goods with each other and/or with the boundary of the container) is allowed and has to be minimised. Hence we can discern several categories of packing problems:

Table of contents
1 Categories of packing problems
2 Examples of 'gaps, but no overlaps' packing problems:
3 Literature

Categories of packing problems

Examples of 'gaps, but no overlaps' packing problems:

Example 1

This is a classical one, its outcome surprising even for many mathematicians. The problem is to fit as many circles of 1 cm diameter into a strip of 2 x n size as possible, where n = 1, 2, 3,.... Of course you can fit at least 2*n circles in there, but the surprising answer is that if n>63, then you can fit at least one more circle in than the formula 2*n suggests. Indeed, for every added length of 64, you get another additional circle in!

Example 2

How many oranges (balls) of given diameter d can you pack into a box of size a x b x c ? This is one of the hardest problems in this category.

Literature

Many puzzle books as well as mathematical journals contain articles on packing problems. See also: Tetris