Packing a basketball – 2010

Activity:
• Show your work in a clear, organized manner
• Solve the Problem
• Explain your thought process1
• Verify your solution

What percent of the cube is occupied by the sphere?

b b b

b b

2r
b

1 How did you solve it? Explain anything that confused you and how you figured it out. Are there any important mathematical

connections you can make?

Solutions
4 3
The volume of the sphere is πr while the volume of the cube is (2r)3 = 8r3 . The volume of the sphere assuming
3
4.188790205333334r3
π ≈ 3.141592654 is 4.188790205333334r3. ≈= .523598776; therefore, the sphere takes up
8r3
roughly 52.4% of the cube.