DailyDirt: Is It Really That Hard To Cut A Cake?
from the urls-we-dig-up dept
Life is filled with small problems. Some more important than others. Mathematicians have attempted to solve some of these conundrums, and apparently one somewhat popular task is cutting things up. Here are just a few (useful?) examples of math applied to the task of cutting a cake.
- This video demonstrates how to cut a cake in a way that maximizes the amount of moist cake that can be eaten if the cake isn’t eaten in a single sitting, but over the course of days. This is actually a pretty sad way to eat a cake, assuming you have no friends or don’t want to share your cake so that you have to eat it all by yourself. [url]
- If you’ve ever heard of the Banach-Tarski Paradox, you might think it should be possible to cut up a cake in such a way that you never run out of cake. The proof relies on the Axiom of Choice, but too bad real cake isn’t infinitely divisible. [url]
- Everyone knows the classic “you cut, I choose” method for cutting up a cake fairly between two people. Not everyone knows the method for cutting a cake fairly between n number of people…. [url]
If you’d like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.
Filed Under: axiom of choice, banach-tarski paradox, cake, distribution problems, fairness, food, math, proofs
Comments on “DailyDirt: Is It Really That Hard To Cut A Cake?”
The cake cutting thing is BS.
The cake cutting thing is BS. Think loaf of bread. How well would cutting it both ways down the middle keep a loaf fresh? Not at all. You are better off slicing off one end. Same goes for taking a single wedge of cake, which leaves only a *single* face open. Squishing the cake sides back is of dubious value and efficacy at best.
Re: The cake cutting thing is BS.
My preferred method of cake preservation is to press a piece of plastic wrap against the exposed surfaces. No drying out, and it’s a lot less hassle than this cutting method.
Also… who keeps a cake in the fridge?? Refrigerated cake is the worst.
Cutting a cake manually is so hard! What we really need is a ‘smart’ knife that will go on the net and look up the best way to cut each cake, then monitor the depth of the cut and the pressure being exerted so that we can know we’re doing it right. It also needs to interface with the smart refrigerator so that it can look up the perfect proportion of milk to go with each slice. Also, the cake needs to be sitting on a smart plate so that it can tell how much is left and order another from the store.
i think i saw a cake in a hollywood movie once, so either way it’s illegal to cut your own cake
I imagine there is an existing method patent on the cutting of cake, is the one for cutting cheese?
But the cake to frosting ratio is ALL WRONG!
The cake is a lie!