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Mathematics

Physicists figured out the ideal container size for pistachio shells

A simple experiment and mathematical model suggest that when you snack on pistachios, you may need a surprisingly large bowl to accommodate the discarded shells

By Karmela Padavic-Callaghan

4 July 2024

2X4A38G Roasted pistachio in bowl. Healthy snack, vegetarian food full of protein, beer snack.

Scientists have optimised pistachio storage

Milovan Radmanovac/Alamy

Shelling your favourite snack nuts just got a lot easier: physicists have worked out the exact size of bowl to best fit discarded pistachio shells.

Ruben Zakine and Michael Benzaquen at École Polytechnique in Paris often find themselves discussing science in the cafeteria while eating pistachios. Naturally, they began wondering about the mathematics behind storing their snack refuse.

The researchers stuffed 613 pistachios into a cylindrical container to determine “packing density”, or the fraction of space taken up by whole nuts…

Article amended on 15 July 2024

We clarified the modelling methods used in the study

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