Patrick B. answered • 05/25/19
Math and computer tutor/teacher
a 3-D object (the golf ball) cannot fit into a 2-D object (the circle)
Either they must go into a huge sphere with radius 120, or you have
the smaller circles (not golf balls) that fit into the larger circle.
Unfortunately, this changes the solution completely, with different answers.
Case 1: If they go into the big sphere:
the volume of the sphere is V = 88/21 * radius^3
= 88/21 * 120^3
= 7241142 and 6/7
the volume of the golf ball is 88/21 * 0.84^3 = 2.483712
Dividing them:
2915451.895..........+
2915451 is the answer in that case.
Case 2:
they go into a big circle:
Area = 22/7 * radius ^2
The area of the big circle is 22/7 * 120^2 = 45257 and 1/7
the area of the cross section of the golf ball at it's THICKEST slice is 22/7 * 0.84^2 = 2.2176
dividing them: 20408.163....+
20408 is the answer in that case.
Please repost with the correct statement of the problem
Damon W.
I agree with your answer and its calculations, and that the problem isn't completely clear. It is possible to put a bunch of golf balls on the floor inside a circular boundary, but i'm not sure this is what is being asked. There is an additional calculation of area lost when stacking circles together, however which adds another layer of calculation The area of a square 1.68 on each side is 2.8244 the area of a circle with 1.68 diameter is 2.2608 2.2608 divided by 2.8244 is 80% which is not an exact calculation but a pretty good estimation of how much of a circles area is actually used when placing circles or spheres right next to one another. I estimated about 78% but that number is probably high in that you can't stack one half of 5/8 of a golf ball into the shape when you get to the circles boundary. I've put an excessive amount of thought into this one. Found it interesting to consider if nothing else!05/26/19