001357-0040 Mathematics SL Shanav Mehta

Mathematics SL

Internal Assessment

Minimization of the surface area and packaging wastage of a 355ml Coca Cola can

Candidate name: Shanav Mehta

Candidate number: 001357-0040

School: Singapore International School, Mumbai

Session: May 2014

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Table of Contents

S.No. Topic Pages

1 Introduction……………………………………………………… 3
2 Possibility 1: Cylinder………………………………………… 4-6
3 Possibility 2: Cuboid………………………………………….. 7-8
4 Possibility 3: Sphere………………………………………….. 9
5 Results and Findings so far……………………………….. 10
6 Possibility 4: Partial sphere cut off at two ends….. 11 - 19
7 Explanation of the table…………………………………….. 16
8 Packaging………………………………………………………….. 17
9 Evaluation…………………………………………………………. 18 -19
10 Conclusion………………………………………………………… 20

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001357-0040 Mathematics SL Shanav Mehta

Introduction
An auspicious Indian tradition brought to my house an awkward mix of noisy

relatives and – thankfully faster ending, but equally as noisy – aerated drink can

openings. After the gathering had concluded, I stared across my living room – now

full of empty Coca Cola cans – and thought to myself: with the rate resource wastage

and pollution in today’s world, do we really need to waste so much more metal on

simple Coca Cola cans? Can’t a smaller surface area hold the same fluid volume?

Given the hefty price of aluminum, cans of a smaller surface area would effectively

reduce the firm’s costs and reduce the level of resource wastage.

I, therefore, decided to explore the mathematical repercussions of action in order to

try and gauge the possibilities of minimizing the surface area of the Coca Cola can,

with the pre-existent volume of 355 ml.

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Possibility 1: Cylinder

This is the existing structure of the current Coca Cola can.

As we can see in the image above, the top and bottom of the can are slightly tapered,

hence preventing the can from assuming the shape of a conventional cylinder.

However, since a number of inaccuracies could have risen had I chosen to work with

tapered ends for this particular possibility, I decided to work with a conventional

cylinder.

Given that the formula for volume of a cylinder is h,

355 = h

h=

This formula may be substituted in the equation for the surface area of a cylinder, in

order to find the expression that would then be minimized through differentiation.

1 N.p., n.d. Web. <http://blog.mononews.ca/wp-

content/uploads/2013/11/bigcoke.jpg>.

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Surface area (A) = 2 + 2 rh

A(r) = 2 + (2 r

=2 +

In order to find the minimum, the above expression was then differentiated:

=4 r–

For the stationary point (which could be either the maximum, the minimum or a

point of inflexion) the above expression was then equated to 0.

4 r– =0

4 r3 = 1420

r = 4.835 cm

In order to find out whether this was indeed the minimum point, the expression for

A must undergo a double differentiation test.

=4 +

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Since this is a positive figure, it may be presumed that r = 4.835 would indeed be the

radius of a cylinder of volume 355 ml with a minimum surface area. This surface

area was then calculated:

A (r)= 2 + , where r = 4.835

A = 293.73 cm2

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Possibility 2: Cuboid

The volume of such a structure would be defined by the equation V = l2h

355 = l2h

h=

The derived value of h was then substituted in the equation for the surface area:

A(l) = 4lh + 2l2

A(l) = (4l) +

In order to find the stationary point (maximum, minimum or inflexion) the equation

was differentiated and equated to 0.

2 N.p., n.d. Web. <http://www.unlimitedgmat.com/media/350180/cuboids.png>.

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= + 4l

+ 4l = 0

4l3 = 1420

l = 7.081 cm

In order to gauge whether this value of l would indeed represent the minimum, the

expression for A must undergo double differentiation.

= +4

Since this value is also positive, it may be presumed that this value of l does indeed

represent the minimum. The minimum surface area of this shape is therefore,

(4l) + 2l2, where l = 7.081 cm

A = 300.82 cm2

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Possibility 3: Sphere

Since a sphere of a given volume can only have one surface area (given that it only

deals with the variable r, the only variable than can be manipulated).

r3 = 355

r = 4.39 cm

Therefore the surface area = 4 (4.39)2

= 242.18 cm2

3N.p., n.d. Web. <http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/Sphere-

wireframe.png>.

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Results and Findings so far

Surface area of each

possibility
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
Sphere Cylinder Cuboid

The minimum surface areas of all three proposed shapes can be compared on the

graph shown above. Although each value looks very close to the other, it is

important to remember that on the mass production scale used by a firm such as

Coca Cola, this margin is a lot larger than shown on the graph. Through the graph we

can see that the sphere shaped can, with a surface area of 242.18 cm2, had the

smallest surface area with the given volume. However, from a pragmatic point of

view, a can of this shape would propose a number of logistical issues in terms of

holding the can and consuming the fluid. Therefore, Coca Cola may employ the next

best alternative, the cylinder, with different dimensions than the existing shape, to

minimize the surface area and reduce wastage.

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Possibility 4: Partial sphere cut off at two ends.

This is a modification on possibility three and looks to eliminate the logistical

possibilities incurred by the third possibility. Since possibility three yielded the

lowest surface area for the given volume, this seemed like the next best alternative.

The can would look something like this

After much research I decided to split the circle up into small fragments much like

the frustums of a cone and attempt to derive a formula through summation and

integration.

4http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/Sphere-wireframe.png
5N.p., n.d. Web. <http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/Sphere-
wireframe.png>.

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The first segment shows one of these sections where the side is and the blue line

(radius) is . The surface area of this particular segment is given by the formula:

A summation of all these small segments would result in the formula for the surface

area of the modified sphere:

A(l) =

As tends to zero, the summation can be presumed to be equivalent to integration.

A(l) =

Since is the hypotenuse of the right angle triangle formed in a given frustum, =

-h

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A(l) =

Since ,

A(l) =

A(l) = 4

We know that,

V=

Since the volume is fixed at 355 ml,

V=2

=2

355 = 2

r=

When r is substituted into the formula for area,

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‘A’ was solely the curved surface area. After factoring the surface area of both the

top and the bottom of the can, the following equation was derived:

= + , by reference to the aforementioned diagram.

Given that,

r=

Since neither h nor A had a fixed value, I took different values of h from 0 onwards

and used the trial and error method on an Excel spreadsheet to find the best

possible value. The following were my results:

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Height Curved Upper + Total Radius Outcome

surface area Lower surface area
(part 1) Surface area (part1 +part
(part 2) 2)

1 94.71105814 350.8133333 445.5243915 7.540689342 Implausible

2 136.662184 160.7533333 297.4155173 5.440373567 Too High

3 176.102661 80.65333333 256.7559943 4.673637499 Too High

3.2 184.5269844 68.06603333 252.5930177 4.591137151 Too High

3.4 193.2534618 56.01389804 249.2673598 4.52541827 Too High

3.6 202.3253379 44.35191111 246.677249 4.474640346 Too High

3.8 211.7816573 32.96558596 244.7472432 4.437262346 Probable

4 221.6574847 21.76333333 243.4208181 4.411972228 Probable

4.2 231.984112 10.67100952 242.6551215 4.397636335 Best Answer

4.4 242.7892665 0.372048485 242.417218 4.393262638 Impossible

All possible answers past a height of 4.4 are impossible because the radius, from

that point on, becomes shorter than the height, which is trigonometrically not

possible.

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Explanation of the table

I initially took numbers in denominations of one and from twenty onwards in larger

denominations to observe the trend. Since past 4.4, the value of r became smaller

than that of h the values were termed impossible. Values past 4.4 are hence not

displayed in the table.

The smallest surface area was that where the value of h was 1; but was considered

improbable because the outcome would be logistically problematic. I hence took

smaller denominations of 0.2 between 3 and 4.4 to find a more plausible accurate

answer and found that at a height of 4.2, the surface area was the smallest (242.7

). What is interesting though is that at this height the radius is about 4.4,

making the shape almost spherical. However, the top and bottom will still be

relatively flat, eliminating the logistical issue proposed by the sphere, thus giving us

the best answer in terms of smallest surface area and least wastage of material.

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Packaging
This further leads to the question: Which shape, the regular cylinder or the

modified sphere, is best suited for packaging with the lowest amount of

wastage?

For the volume of the cans, I have used the original value of 355 , or the

subsequent formula for the cylinder (to make calculations more convenient)

Cylinder

Since 24 cans – the arrangement 6 4 – are usually packed in one crate, the

estimated loss of volume per crate may be calculated by the following formulae:

= where r is the radius and h is the height.

Therefore we receive the fraction , which is equal to 78.54% of the crate occupied

by the cans. This indicates a wasted volume of 21.46%.

Modified sphere

Since 24 cans are usually packed in one crate, the estimated loss of volume per crate

may be calculated by the following formulae:

where r is the radius and h is the height.

Therefore the modified sphere occupies only 54.64% of the can, leave a wasted

volume of 45.36%.

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Evaluation
The following data discusses the efficiency of each shape in terms of aluminum

wastage.

Possibility number (shape) Surface area

1. Cylinder 293.73

2. Cuboid 300.82

3. Sphere 242.18

4. Modified Sphere 242.7

The following chart helps evaluate the results:

Surface area
350
300
250
200
150 Surface area
100
50
0
1. Cylinder 2. Cuboid 3. Sphere 4. Modified
Sphere

We find that the cut manipulated sphere when measured accurately gives us the

best possible answer and the smallest surface area we have encountered (242.7

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) that could be used without any logistical difficulties, approximately 60

than what we can presume is the current surface area of the Coca Cola can.

The following data discusses the efficiency of the original shape and the modified

sphere in terms of the amount of space wasted in terms of packaging.

Possibility number (shape) Wasted volume

1. Cylinder 21.46%

2. Modified Sphere 45.36%

Hence the generic cylindrical cans waste less space in the crate than the modified

spheres. Hence one wastes less aluminum and the other wastes less space in the

crate.

However, one source of error might be the fact that due to some difficulty in

calculation on Excel, I estimated as 3.14 cm.

However, the overall outcome is likely to be undeterred.

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Conclusion
Hence the generic cylindrical cans waste less space in the crate than the modified

spheres while the modified sphere wastes the least aluminum while production.

Works Cited

N.p., n.d. Web. <http://blog.mononews.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/bigcoke.jpg>.

N.p., n.d. Web. <http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/Sphere-wireframe.png>.

N.p., n.d. Web. <http://www.unlimitedgmat.com/media/350180/cuboids.png>.

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