Why Are Cans Shaped That Way?

By and large, Spam would seem to indicate that not all agree.

A can of Spam is a waste of perfectly good metal... not to mention the waste of a perfectly good pig.

(tho' it did make pretty good roads in WW11)

I think Spam is of American origin, so you can maybe be allowed that. Don't try dissing Corned Beef ! Used to hate the stuff, but am now a complete fan. Not exactly prime rib, but very tasty when you want to feed yer face fast. The price of the stuff has gone thru the roof in recent years.

Why are my neighbors carrots shaped like his feet?

Inquiring minds want to know....

I've never even considered having a pedicure, but your neighbour might want to think about it !

Which foot???

Not sure I've ever seen hairy carrots before? And why are your neighbors feet that funny color of orange?

He's a vegetariable...

The hairy one .

It seems to me that the obvious reason cans are cylindrical is that they can be manufactured without compound curves. Until aluminum was used, cans were made in three pieces, none of which required "stretching" any metal.

.....and the phone hasn't worked since....

I always liked the glass jars best.....you could see what you were buying....

Round is a more natural shape to grasp, and it doesn't slip out of your grasp when taking the last gulp.

Especially after 4 or 5.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcsDxCagWrY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7seOSD_8NGs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4TVDSWuR5E

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WqrLAE7VZw

Recognizing all the odd shapes illustrated by SE and others; seems like in college math classes we showed that many cans were of diameter and height proportions to minimize the material needed.

When working at Argonne National Lab we had canning machines inside the glove boxes to seal up nuclear materials before bagging them out. This emphasized that diameter standards were needed so only a few sizes of dies were needed so the machine could seal the can.

I think you are correct in citing surface area to volume ratio. Cylinders because spheres are harder to make and harder to stack on a flat shelf.

But cubes or rectilinear shapes improve the packing ratio allowing you to ship more product per volume. Of course if pressure is involved then spherical and cylindrical shapes have obvious advantages.

Cans make good rifle targets.