- Alameda Post - https://alamedapost.com -

Math Puzzle for May 8, 2026

He graduated at the bottom of his engineering class, now he’s reinventing the snow cone one low-tech step at a time

Alameda Post - An image of a piece of circular waffle material, then an arrow which points to a formed waffle cone. [1]

Rosco is redesigning the Snow Cone to save on cone material. His crude prototype starts with a pliable circular waffle he forms into a cone.

The cone will be completely filled with sweetened ice of an indistinct flavor. The finished product will include a hemisphere of ice topping the ice-filled cone.

The diameter of the circular waffle is 12.24656417 centimeters.

Find the largest possible volume of ice in the cone plus the hemisphere.

A correct answer sent to [email protected] [2] could win a Tucker’s gift card.

Last week’s winner [3] was Ben Chacon with radius of curvature r = 5 centimeters.

(Use of AI is strictly forbidden.)

Jeff Smith is a former Math teacher and a retired US Navy Lieutenant Commander. Reach him at [email protected] [2].