Human hamster ball

Geometry Level 5

A zorb is a large sphere made out of transparent plastic, in which a rider can roll downhill.

A certain zorb has a circumference of 9 m 9 \text{ m} . Within this special zorb, two layers of fabric are present to protect the rider. The outer one is shaped into a cube, with each of its vertices attached to the edge of the outside, spherical layer. Like the outermost layer, the innermost one is also shaped into a sphere, with its fabric attached tangentially to each of the cube's six faces.

If the volume of the inner sphere can be expressed in the form A B C π C m 3 \frac { A\sqrt { B } }{ C{ \pi }^{ C } } {\text{ m} }^{ 3 }

where A , B A,B and C C are integers with B B square-free, find A + B + C A+B+C .


This problem is original.

Picture credits: My First Zorbing by Josh Berglund, Wikipedia


The answer is 32.

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2 solutions

Tom Engelsman
Jun 9, 2019

If the Zorb's outer sphere has a circumference of 9 9 meters, then 2 π R = 9 R = 9 2 π . 2\pi R = 9 \Rightarrow R = \frac{9}{2\pi}. This same sphere is modeled as:

x 2 + y 2 + z 2 = ( 9 2 π ) 2 x^2 + y^2 + z^2 = (\frac{9}{2\pi})^2 (i).

If the inner cube has side length s s and its center is coincident with the outer sphere, then applying the planes z = ± s 2 z = \pm \frac{s}{2} into (i) yields the circular plane section:

x 2 + y 2 = ( 9 2 π ) 2 ( s 2 ) 2 x^2 + y^2 = (\frac{9}{2\pi})^2 - (\frac{s}{2})^2 (ii)

and solving for the cube's side length can be determined by the following Pythagorean relationship:

( s 2 ) 2 + ( s 2 ) 2 = ( 9 2 π ) 2 3 s 2 4 = ( 9 2 π ) 2 s = 9 π 3 (\frac{s}{2})^2 + (\frac{s}{\sqrt{2}})^2 = (\frac{9}{2\pi})^2 \Rightarrow \frac{3s^2}{4} = (\frac{9}{2\pi})^2 \Rightarrow s = \frac{9}{\pi \sqrt{3}} (iii)

The inner-sphere has radius r = s 2 r = \frac{s}{2} as it is tangent with all six sides of the inner cube. The volume computes to:

V = 4 π 3 r 3 = 4 π 3 ( 9 2 π 3 ) 3 = 27 3 2 π 2 . V = \frac{4\pi}{3} r^3 = \frac{4\pi}{3} \cdot (\frac{9}{2\pi \sqrt{3}})^3 = \boxed{\frac{27 \sqrt{3}}{2 \pi^{2}}} .

Hence, our desired final sum is 27 + 3 + 2 = 32 . 27 + 3 + 2 = \boxed{32}.

D i a m e t e r o f t h e o u t e r s p h e r e = 9 π = D i a g o n a l o f t h e c u b e . S i d e o f t h e c u b e = 1 3 9 π . V o l u m e o f i n n e r s p h e r e = 4 3 π ( 1 2 1 3 9 π . ) 3 = 4 3 π 1 8 1 3 3 9 3 π 3 = 1 2 1 9 3 9 81 π 2 = 1 2 3 3 81 π 2 = 1 2 3 27 π 2 = B A C π C A + B + C = 27 + 3 + 2 = 32 Diameter ~of~ the ~outer ~sphere~=\dfrac 9 \pi=~Diagonal~ of~ the~ cube.\\ Side~ of~ the~ cube~=\dfrac 1{ \sqrt3}*\dfrac 9 \pi.\\ Volume~ of~ inner~ sphere~=\dfrac 4 3*\pi*\left ( \dfrac 1 2 *\dfrac 1 {\sqrt3}*\dfrac 9 \pi. \right)^3\\ =\dfrac 4 3*\pi*\dfrac 1 8 *\dfrac 1{3\sqrt3}*\dfrac {9^3}{\pi^3}\\ = \dfrac 1 2 * \dfrac 1{9\sqrt3} *\dfrac {9*81}{{\pi}^2} \\ = \dfrac 1 2 * \dfrac {\sqrt3} 3 *\dfrac {81}{{\pi}^2}\\ = \dfrac 1 2 * \sqrt3 *\dfrac {27}{{\pi}^2}\\ = \dfrac {\sqrt B *A}{C*\pi^C} \\ A+B+C=27+3+2=\Large \color{#D61F06}{32}

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