In geometry, a sphere packing is an arrangement of non-overlapping spheres within a containing space. The spheres considered are usually all of identical size, and the space is usually three-dimensional Euclidean space. However, sphere packing problems can be generalised to consider unequal spheres, spaces of other dimensions or to non-Euclidean spaces such as hyperbolic space.
Sphere packing finds practical application in the stacking of cannonballs.
Regular arrangement of equal spheres in a plane changing to an irregular arrangement of unequal spheres (bubbles).
Geometry is a branch of mathematics concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. Geometry is, along with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is called a geometer. Until the 19th century, geometry was almost exclusively devoted to Euclidean geometry, which includes the notions of point, line, plane, distance, angle, surface, and curve, as fundamental concepts.
A European and an Arab practicing geometry in the 15th century
Woman teaching geometry. Illustration at the beginning of a medieval translation of Euclid's Elements, (c. 1310).
Visual checking of the Pythagorean theorem for the (3, 4, 5) triangle as in the Zhoubi Suanjing 500–200 BC. The Pythagorean theorem is a consequence of the Euclidean metric.
Quintic Calabi–Yau threefold
