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Today Puzzle #704

Puzzle No. 704 – Thursday 26 March

In order to follow the governments social distancing guidelines each person must remain a distance 2 m from every other person. This has caused quite the kerfuffle among the active rambling communities of the West Midlands. A group of 5 walkers in Wolverhampton enjoy walking in mathematical formation around the West Park. They have decided to maintain their formation for the duration of the walk but still want to ensure the 2 m distancing guideline is adhered to. What is the smallest square they can fit their walking formation in, i.e., what's the smallest possible side length the square can have?

Today’s #PuzzleForToday has been set by Dr Andrew Gascoyne from the University of Wolverhampton

Click here for the answer

4+4*sqrt(2). These problems are a part of the mathematical study of sphere packing or circle packing in this case.

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