Sphere Packing Predictions

If you have a droplet of liquid containing a set number of spheres, they will preferentially clump to form certain shapes. Can you predict the shapes with math? That's a challenge scientists have been facing for years! David Pine and Vinothan Manoharan of UC Santa Barbara propose calculating the packing arrangement by choosing the one that minimizes the distribution of particle distances from the center of mass of the cluster. Their experimental findings on sphere packing and prediction model appears in Science. Read the MSN article article to learn more about Pine and Manoharan's study of how matter gets put together.