Table tennis balls that are glued together can be stacked on top of one another showing the two most important kinds of packing – hexagonal and face centred cubic packing. One may use balls painted in different colors to bring home the ideas more vividly. Click on the images for close-ups.
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- A single layer of atoms.
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- A single row of atoms stacked on the bottom layer.
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- A complete second layer stacked on top of the bottom layer. There is one and only on way in which the close packing is possible.
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- A close up showing the interstices.
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- The third layer is on top of the interstices in the bottom layer. Called ABC stacking (fcp).
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- The third layer is directly on top of the atoms in the bottom layer. Called AB stacking (hcp).
