Peter Santo wrote:
> 
> Is there an exact solution for 5, 7 or 16 points?

IIRC from my chemistry days (one of the real-world applications of this
stuff), the solution for 5 points is (in terms of the surface of a
sphere) three on the equator, 120 degrees apart, and the other two at
the poles.

I'm not sure about 7 or 16.  I get the impression that exact solutions
exist for all values of n.  It boils down to a big optimization problem,
if you construct it in terms of minimizing net forces among a set of
mutually repellant points constrained by a sphere.  Maybe linear
programming would yield solutions?

-- 
Mark Gordon
mtg### [at] povrayorg

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