File this under the category of Ig Nobel research.

When making cookies, you have to space out the balls of dough on the baking sheet, so that as they spread in the oven, they don't flow into each other, or off the side of the sheet.

So given a size of baking sheet, say 15" x 13" or 40cm by 27cm, and a number of balls of dough to position, say 8 or 10 or 12, how to calculate the best positioning strategy?

You might opt for a rectangular grid:

+--------------+
|  x  x  x  x  |
|              |
|  x  x  x  x  |
|              |
|  x  x  x  x  |
+--------------+

[download]

Or you could go for a diagonal distribution:

+---------------+
| x   x   x   x |
|   x   x   x   |
| x   x   x   x |
+---------------+

[download]

An alternative formulation of the problem: Given a number of cookies to make, an initial ball size (diameter) and a spread factor (what units?), determine the minimum size (and shape) required to accommodate them with a specified minimum gap.

No urgency, and no prizes. Just the fun of taking part. Can it be golfed?

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In reply to The interesting problem of cookie dough placement. by BrowserUk

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