Steven G
Elite Member
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2014
- Messages
- 14,378
The other day I was sitting in front of a table that had a few quarters on it. So I placed one in front of me and then proceeded to put the next two coins around this one. Then I asked myself how many quarters will go around this centered one. My quick answer was 2pi but quickly realized that the answer was 6 after seeing the equilateral triangles. So then I upped the problem to how many ping pong balls can be placed around a centered ball. I easily got that answer. Then of course I considered the 4th dimension case and realized that I could NOT visualize this situation.
Can some of you mathematicians or Physicists (can't forget about them!) please explain how to see this problem and solution as well as possibly going to higher dimensions?
Can some of you mathematicians or Physicists (can't forget about them!) please explain how to see this problem and solution as well as possibly going to higher dimensions?
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