Densest Packing of Spheres in a Cube

This Applet needs a Java Plugin (tested:jre-1_5_0_03).
If you don't have Java consider installing Sun's J2SE Runtime Environment (JRE)

Enter a number from 1 to 72 in the text field and press "apply" or hit [ENTER]. You will see the first sphere of the packing (parallel projection). Then you can put next spheres with "(+)", remove last with "(-)" or all with "all". In the selectbox you can change the point of view. Attention, the spheres will come in a different order (from back to front). Selecting "touches" shows lines if a sphere is in touch with another sphere or the cube walls.

If symmetries are available you can select it. Show different symmetry operations with the "0" Button. White means the ball is translated onto itself. Spheres of other colors are translated (e.g mirrored or turned) onto another sphere of the same color.

You can also rotate by mouse drag, or by typing [x],[y],[z] on your keybord. [+] and [-] zooms in or out. You can also use the arrow keys. [ctrl] is finer, [shift] changes direction. Click on the spheres first to assign the input focus.

All data were calculated by Hugo Pfoertner.
Mathematical questions please to him. (For all packings with n>10 there are no proofs of optimality)

For critics, suggestions, etc. about the applet mail to martin . erren @ gmx . de (without spaces).

Source and code zipped if you want to start it locally or modify it (then please give me a message). There you will find SpherePackingAlternative.html for alternative data read from files.

Links to the data are given at Hugo's Densest Packings of Equal Spheres in a Cube.

Have fun!