pongnguy t1_jefy678 wrote
Reply to comment by _Dnikeb in TIL: honeycombs start out circular, and the surface tension of the beeswax pulls them into hexagons as it solidifies, because it is the most energetically favorable conformation. by craigdahlke
Good observation! So it's not surface tension as claimed in the article. If it was only surface tension, I think isolated circular tubes would solidify into a hexagon as well.
I notice a lot of research papers exagerate their findings, and in some cases are just plain wrong, some fraudulently so (see Alzheimer's research scandal).
craigdahlke OP t1_jeg14zk wrote
Not so. The article is not exaggerating anything here, if you read it carefully. As another user pointed out, an isolated cell will conform to a circle. The crucial point here is that there is a 3-way junction between the cells that pulls equally in all 3 directions. And it makes sense if you think about it as well. 360 degrees (all directions) divided equally into 3 (surface tensions pulling equally in 3 directions) you get 120 degrees. Which is also, you guessed it, the interior angle of each vertex of a hexagon!
The example with the bundle of straws works on a similar concept, except instead of pulling, you are applying a force to the perimeter of a circle from 6 different directions. 360/6 = 60 degrees, the central angle made by dividing the perimeter into 6 straight sections (I. E. a hexagon).
dougglatt69 t1_jefzzr2 wrote
Actually you've got it backwards. Surface tension is going to pull an isolated cell into a circle as it minimizes length. Of the cell walls. When the circular cells are adjacent. The hexagon shape minimizes the length of the cell walls for adjacent cells
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