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Maximum Offset in Block Stacking

This document discusses the block stacking problem and derives a formula for the maximum offset distance (dn) of a stack of n identical blocks balanced on the edge of a table. It shows that dn increases without bound as n increases, meaning the offset can become arbitrarily large for a sufficiently large number of blocks. Specifically, it finds that at least 4 blocks are needed for the top block to extend beyond the edge of the table, and that a stack of 52 cards would have an offset of approximately 2.27 times the length of a card.

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37 views2 pages

Maximum Offset in Block Stacking

This document discusses the block stacking problem and derives a formula for the maximum offset distance (dn) of a stack of n identical blocks balanced on the edge of a table. It shows that dn increases without bound as n increases, meaning the offset can become arbitrarily large for a sufficiently large number of blocks. Specifically, it finds that at least 4 blocks are needed for the top block to extend beyond the edge of the table, and that a stack of 52 cards would have an offset of approximately 2.27 times the length of a card.

Uploaded by

dajksbei
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Block stacking problem

Gilles Cazelais
Suppose we have a stack of n identical blocks of unit length and we try to balance them on the edge of a table. What is the largest possible oset distance from the tables edge? Let dn be the maximum oset distance of a stack of n blocks.

Table

dn

When the largest oset is obtained, the center of mass of the n blocks must lie right above the tables edge and the center of mass of the n 1 top blocks must lie right above the edge of the bottom block. n blocks dn n 1 blocks dn1

Table

Table

dn1 +

1 2

Let M be the mass of a single block. By computing the total moment of the n blocks with respect to the right edge we obtain nM dn = M (dn1 + 1 2 ) + (n 1)M dn1 . We can solve for dn to obtain the recurrence relation dn = dn1 + It is easy to see that d1 = 1 2. 1 . 2n

Table By iteration we obtain d2 = d1 + d3 = d2 + d4 = d3 +

d1 =

1 2

1 1 1 1 = + = 22 2 4 2

1+ 1+ 1+

1 2 1 1 + 2 3 1 1 1 + + 2 3 4 .

1 1 1 1 1 = + + = 23 2 4 6 2

1 1 1 1 1 1 = + + + = 24 2 4 6 8 2

We see that in general we have the following formula. dn = 1 2 1+ 1 1 1 + + + 2 3 n

This result could be proved by mathematical induction. Since we know that the harmonic series 1+ 1 1 1 + + + 2 3 4

diverges to innity, we get the surprising fact that the oset distance satises
n

lim dn = .

This means that dn can become arbitrarily large provided that we choose n large enough.

How many blocks do we need so that the left edge of the top block extends beyond the edge of the table? Since 1 1 1 1 11 1 1 1 25 d3 = and d4 = 1+ + = 1+ + + = 2 2 3 12 2 2 3 4 24 we see that at least 4 blocks are needed.

Table

d3 < 1

Table

d4 > 1

It is interesting to observe that since d52 = 1 2 1+ 1 1 1 + + + 2 3 52 2.27,

if we use a deck of 52 cards instead of blocks, we can obtain an oset distance of about 2.27 times the length of a card.

Table

d52 2.27

Gilles Cazelais. Typeset with L A T EX on July 14, 2006.

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