There is a perfect sphere of diameter 100 cms. resting up against a perfectly straight wall and a perfectly straight floor.
What is the diameter of the largest sphere that can pass through the gap between the wall, floor and the sphere ?

Drawing a line from the center of the greater sphere to the center of the smaller sphere gives a distance X+R, where X is the radius to be obtained and R is 100cm. Makeing a right triangle of sides R-X and R-X gives out an hypotenuse of √2*(R-X), therefore √2*(R-X)=X+R. X=R*(√2-1)/(√2+1)=17.1572875253cm. The Diameter of the largest sphere between the gap is 34.3145750506cm.

Posted by Antonio on 2003-11-23 02:00:28