Running on the basis of mathematical superiority, this also flows into the realm of mechanical engineering - there's a ton of real-world objects with naturally recurring hexagonal shapes.įor example, the common snowflake patterns, bee honeycombs and more interestingly, the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland.

With this structure, the pull of surface tension in each direction is most mechanically stable, which explains how bee honeycombs are hexagonal - bees make their honey combs with circular units, but thanks to this surface tension, the end result when the wax hardens into place is hexagonal. Hexagonal packing also minimises the perimeter for a given area because of its 120-degree angles. Mathematically, the hexagon has 6 sides - what makes this particular shape so interesting is that the hexagonal shape best fills a plane with equal size units and leaves no wasted space. ‍ Mathematically and mechanically superior What's more interesting however, are its inherent properties and what makes it so unique and common in nature. But there's far more beneath the surface, overlapping various fields and disciplines. At its core, we all know what a hexagon is - a polygon that has 6 sides.

Hexagon nature's perfect shape