Timeline for What is the optimal way to cut B chocolate bars to share equally between N people?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
8 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Oct 14, 2016 at 15:56 | answer | added | Will Sawin | timeline score: 5 | |
| Oct 14, 2016 at 15:39 | comment | added | Joel David Hamkins | If we are allowed to cut through multiple bars at once, then do we regard my solution for the $5,6$ case as having only one cut? | |
| Oct 14, 2016 at 15:35 | comment | added | Joel David Hamkins | Are we assuming the bars are all identical? And that we can have perfect precision with measuring? And that people will agree on the measurements and the value of the pieces? Of course, there is a rich literature on division procedures if you deny these. But I take the problem here more naively. | |
| Oct 14, 2016 at 15:33 | comment | added | Will Sawin | It's possible to get $N-\gcd{B,N}$ - arrange the bars in the line, flush against each other, and cut at integer multiples of $1/N$ times the length of the line, omitting any cuts that pass through the gaps between bars. This generalises the 5 in the case 5,6 from Joel's solution, and I believe it is always optimal though I don't have a proof. | |
| Oct 14, 2016 at 15:30 | comment | added | Joel David Hamkins | For the case $B=5$, $N=6$, you can cut $1/6$ off each bar, and give $5/6$ to each person. With 5 cuts, this is clearly optimal, in terms of minimizing the number of cuts, since you must cut each bar at least once. | |
| S Oct 14, 2016 at 15:25 | history | suggested | C.F.G | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
improve formatting
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| Oct 14, 2016 at 15:07 | review | Suggested edits | |||
| S Oct 14, 2016 at 15:25 | |||||
| Oct 14, 2016 at 12:06 | history | asked | Humberto José Bortolossi | CC BY-SA 3.0 |