Number of close-packed spheres in an octahedron
In number theory, an octahedral number is a figurate number that represents the number of spheres in an octahedron formed from close-packed spheres. The nth octahedral number can be obtained by the formula:[1]
The first few octahedral numbers are:
- 1, 6, 19, 44, 85, 146, 231, 344, 489, 670, 891 (sequence A005900 in the OEIS).