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. If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.
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Filed Under: axiom of choice, banach-tarski paradox, cake, distribution problems, fairness, food, math, proofs


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  • identicon
    Scote, 27 Jun 2014 @ 5:06pm

    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.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      John Fenderson (profile), 30 Jun 2014 @ 8:33am

      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.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Rekrul, 28 Jun 2014 @ 1:04am

    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.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 28 Jun 2014 @ 7:25am

    i think i saw a cake in a hollywood movie once, so either way it's illegal to cut your own cake

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 28 Jun 2014 @ 7:56am

    I imagine there is an existing method patent on the cutting of cake, is the one for cutting cheese?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 28 Jun 2014 @ 12:40pm

    But the cake to frosting ratio is ALL WRONG!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Zonker, 1 Jul 2014 @ 12:11pm

    The cake is a lie!

    link to this | view in chronology ]


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