Help with spheres

One of the main things we do in this house is write math textbooks. Today we need something kind of unusual: reasons why people in the workplace would need/want to know the surface area of a sphere. Big, small, doesn't matter.

I can think of lots of reasons to know the diameter or the volume of a sphere, but the surface-area thing has me somewhat stumped.

I figure a vast storehouse of knowledge like the GRM community contains the answers I need. (In this case, AFAIK, the answer is NOT Miata, P71, or Wartburg.)

So: anybody out there work with spheres??

well, the head lights on a miata are spherical....

But, vinyl covering of a sphere would be a reason....think screen printing a globe

To paint or coat it.

Friction in a fully captured bearing?

• How much leather and stitching is needed for a baseball.
• How many dimples can you fit on a golf ball (more dimples, more control)

Thats all I got

Keep 'em coming, guys, this is great!

Surface area of the planet given the circumference. Then use fractions/percentages to calculate land and water surface area.

Knowing how long the sharpie I use to sign my fans breasts will last? (bonus - it's a percentage problem too!)

i'm an orb fan myself

Ball bearings?

How many rust mites may have lived on the surface of that orange that you just ate (If I remember correctly, the maximum number is 2 rust mites/cm^2 for fresh fruit).

If it's aimed at GED's how much of a boob must be covered to serve alcohol in your state

how much red paint is needed to paint those concrete balls at Target

MrJoshua wrote: To paint or coat it.

"you are building a parade float..."

( with a georgia peach, florida orange, soccer ball, etc.)

How much material do you need to make a (soccer ball assuming it is spherical, basketball, baseball, etc.)

And if you really want to get into some seriously interesting spherical maths, y0, look at the equations for celestial navigation. They all assume that all the stars are fixed on the inside of a giant sphere that you look up at.

Musket ball?

I believe a sphere encloses the largest volume with the least surface area.

umm... weather balloon & hot air balloon construction? mirror geometries on disco balls?

The holographic principle says that the maximum amount of information that can be stored in a given volume of space is proportional to the surface area that volume... I don't see how this would be of any use to someone who's not a theoretical physicist though.

The amount of soapy "bubble juice" required to make a bubble of 1", 3", 5"

The surface area of a sphere is 4 x pi r squared.

Surface friction calculations of a sphere in a liquid/gas?

fasted58 wrote: i'm an orb fan myself

I was thinking the same thing when I read the title. Too much Coast to Coast I guess.

Pressure stress.