The optimal ice cream cone

Everyone loves ice cream! But have you ever looked at an ice cream cone through the eyes of mathematics? In this task, we are trying to optimise the ice cream cone!

Think about what an ice cream cone is mathematically. Then think about different criteria to which optimizing ice cream cones could refer (area, volume, stability, looks, …). Try to fix one way in which you want to optimize your ice cream cone. Make really precise what your criterion is.

Then try to find the cone which is optimal in this way:

• You can design an experiment to do this.
• You can also calculate. If algebraic and calculus steps get somewhat complicated, consider using appropriate software environments. You could for example use the link bg/index.php?lang=en and look for appropriate applets by the key word cone.

You may discuss possible approaches with your friends (don’t eat all the errors of the experiment J)

This Worksheet is part of the Quartely Problem Series. For more quartely problems and other classroom materials, click here.

Picture Source: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences

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