# A lightly ridiculous, but serious math question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Tags:** science-math\ **Created:** [October 13, 2024, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lightly-ridiculous-but-serious-math-question/1008720 "2024-10-13T16:28:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 1
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2024, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lightly-ridiculous-but-serious-math-question/1008720/1 "2024-10-13T16:28:36Z")
Halloween is here! And I want to build a pumpkin from 2cm foam and t-shirt material glued on to it. The maths is in the diameter and circumferance. I can calculate both. I cannot work out how to calculate the total area of cloth I need. Given a sphere of, say, 1m in diameter, and given that the surface is “pumpkin-like” - that is ( \_ ).( \_ ).( \_ )( \_ ).( \_ ) going around a circle, and I choose something like 30cm for the underscores, how do calculate for the curves? Trial and error will probably win out here, but I feel I should know the math. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lightly-ridiculous-but-serious-math-question/1008720)._