$D_r(x)$ denotes a closed ball of radius $r$ centered at $x$. Definition. Let $M \subset \mathbb{R}^n$. * $D_r (M): = \bigcup\limits_{x \in M} D_r (x)$ * $Int_r (M): = \{x ~|~ D_r(x) \subset M\}$ **Question**: Is it true that $M \subset \mathbb{R}^n$ the following conditions are equivalent * There is $r> 0$ such that $Int_r (D_r (M)) = M$ and $D_r (Int_r (M)) = M$ * M is a n-dimensional smooth submanifold Related: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_curve Update: This question was previously called question 2 and there was also a trivial question 1 (see edit history), which was refuted in the first comment.