The actual distribution will depend on the confining potential. The arrangement that minimizes the total potential energy of the system is just some regular (c

The actual distribution will depend on the confining potential. The arrangement that minimizes the total potential energy of the system is just some regular (crystalline) structure. This is an ionic crystal in a harmonic potential well https://youtu.be/Pe3_IosfaTo https://youtu.be/Pe3_IosfaTo They are regularly spaced but taper to the top-bottom and foreword-backward because the 'k' is larger along those axis. It is weaker laterally so more fit along that dimension.