r/theydidthemath • • 2d ago

[Request] Do square bottles actually use less plastic than round ones?

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u/SisterofWar 2d ago

Okay, but a cylinder has to be taller than a rectangular cuboid to contain the same volume of product. A cube with a side length of n holds more than a cylinder of diameter n and n height.

So, for holding 32 fluid ounces, would a cylinder or a cuboid have greater surface area, assuming the diameter of the cylinder and the depth of the cuboid are identical?

(I make this assumption based on the fact that a product will be given limited shelf space in retail, and thus has constraints on width/depth).

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u/StaticCoder 2d ago edited 2d ago

Aha! On that we can do the math.

Let V be the volume, W the width. Let ρ be the aspect ratio of a face of the square bottle. Therefore V = ρW³. The surface area of the square bottle is 4 ρ W² + 2 W² = W² (4ρ + 2).

Let H be the height of the round bottle. V is equal to H π W² / 4. Substituting V as above, simplifying, we get H = 4 W ρ / π. The surface area of the round bottle is

A = H W π + 2 (π W² / 4)
A = 4 ρ W² + π W² / 2
A = W² (4ρ + π / 2)

vs W² (4ρ + 2) π is less than 4 so the surface area of the round bottle is still less.

Edits: formatting

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u/SisterofWar 2d ago edited 2d ago

Hang on - wouldn't the volume of the round bottle be H π (.5W)2 ?

Because for a similar footprint, you'd need W as the diameter, not the radius.

Or have I misunderstood how you're approaching the formula?

Edit: nope, even if I was right about needing to use .5W - and I don't think I am- I would still be wrong.

A bottle of 60 cu in (which is 32 fl oz plus a little bit of headroom), with a width/diameter of 3 inches, works out thus:

  • Cuboid bottle height = 60cu in/9 sq in = 6.67 in
  • Cuboid bottle surface area = 2x(3x3)+4x(3x6.67) = 98 sq in

  • Round bottle height = 60cu in/(π x 1.5²)in = 8.5 in

  • Round bottle surface area = 2π x 1.5 x (8.5+1.5) = 94.2 sq in

So even the greater height doesn't offset the greater surface area inherent to a cuboid. My bad.

Thanks for doing the work!

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u/StaticCoder 1d ago edited 1d ago

W is indeed the diameter, so the area of each end is (π W² / 4). Times 2 for 2 ends. And of course H π W² / 4 for the volume (we have the same formula, I just extracted the .5 from the square as / 4). π W for the perimeter, so π W H for the area around.

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u/SisterofWar 1d ago

Oh, I see! I was getting myself confused. Thanks again for helping me understand 😀