Here is a good shape problem I heard about recently:

There are 3 buns with sprinkles on the top that 4 people want to share. The buns have a radius of 3 inches, 4 inches and 5 inches, and although the people know where the center of each bun is, they don't know anything else about the buns, and all they have is a knife to divide the buns.

What is the fewest number of pieces required to let each person have the same area of bun? (Note that each cut must be from top to bottom; horizontal cuts would result in uneven sprinkle distribution. The cuts don't need to be straight.)

Any cuts made will create crumbs. The longer the cut the more the crumbs, thus who ever gets part of the big bun actually gets less.

So crumb all the buns together in a big bowl, add milk and make a bun smoothie, pour into 4 glasses and enjoy.

As you guessed I have no idea.

 

Posted by Shane on 2004-05-28 10:13:11