Bees Final Write-Up

Introduction
Problem: ​Why do bees use hexagons? Is there another shape that may be more effective.
1. Volume: ​The amount of of “stuff” inside an object.
2. Surface Area:​ The outside part of an object.
3. Tessellation: ​An arrangement of shapes closely fitting together. Repeating a pattern.
4. Structure integrity:​ The most reliable structure that can be the most conviennent. To
hold together its own weight without breaking.
For our math project, we were asked to find out why bees use hexagons in there beehives and if
there was another shape that may be more effective. We then learned about 4 important components
that helped us figure out which shape was the most efficient (Volume, Surface Area, Tessellation and
Structure Integrity). Volume is the amount of of “stuff” inside an object, surface Area is the outside part
of an object, a tessellation is an arrangement of shapes closely fitting together; repeating a pattern and
structure integrity is the most reliable structure that can be the most conviennent. To hold together its
own weight without breaking.

● Comparison:

1. Triangular Prism
- Volume: ​3897.11
- Lateral Surface area: ​900

2. Rectangular Prism
- Volume: ​3897.11
- Lateral Surface area: 789.6

3. Pentagon Prism
- Volume: ​3897.11
- Lateral Surface area: 752.5

4. Hexagon Prism
- Volume: ​3897.11
- Lateral Surface Area: 735

Discussion:
Based on our mathematical findings we discovered four different possible types of honeycombs
including a hexagon, and we found the prism that made the most sense was a triangular prism. We
discovered the four different volumes and surface areas for each shape. We found that the triangular
prism had the largest lateral surface area. We know that the triangular prism has the largest area
because; the volume we chose = 3897.11 and with that we had a height of 10. So, 3897.11/10= 389.711
and that was the base area. At that point we then needed to use that area to discover one side length
was 30 so then we did 30 x 1 to get one side area. After we discovered the area of one side all we had to
do was multiply that by 3 to find the entire lateral surface area which was 900. 900 was the highest
number and we knew that a triangular prism was a reliable structure due to an experiment we did in
class.

Conclusion
We concluded that the most ideal honeycomb shape is a triangular prism. We decided this would be the
most efficient because it has the largest lateral surface area.

Equilateral Triangle measurements:

A: 30
B: 30
C: 30
H: 10

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SOURCES:
Google Search:
- Triangular prism calculator
- Rectangular prism calculator
- Pentagon Calculator