+12 BACKGROUND INFO:
Okay, I know at first this may seem obvious if you don't think about it hard enough because there are different forms of packing, and this will end up with no pattern (most likely). I have seen examples of 12 circles being packed in a square, but this might not be the most efficient because now we are including rectangles.
Okay, so here is the question, word for word:
A shipping company is designing boxes to meet specific requirements.
What is the smallest amount of cardboard needed to meet the specifications?
Could you solve and explain this?
Thx!
+129840 Configurations
1 row of 12 cans in each layer W = 36 L = 3 H = 10
cardboared needed = 2 [ 36 + 3 + 10 ] = 98 in^2
2 rows of 6 cans in each layer W = 18 L = 6 H = 10
cardboared needed = 2 [ 18 + 6 + 10 ] = 78 in^2
3 rows of 4 cans in each layer W = 12 L = 9 H = 10
cardboared needed = 2 [ 12 + 9 + 10 ] = 62 in^2
Note.... the nearer that the layers approach a "square" configuration, the less material used.....check most boxes of canned goods at any store......you will probably see this
