I can't take credit for this. It was submitted to a quiz page on the CBC's (Canadian Broadcasting Co) website by Professor Maria Klawe of the Computer Science department at the University of British Columbia. But I thought our group would enjoy it.
Remember when a bar of plain milk chocolate was scored to allow you to break it evenly into smaller pieces?
What is the smallest number of breaks needed to divide a 4 by 8 chocolate bar into single squares, where each break splits any one of the pieces along an original horizontal or vertical line of the bar? Your answer should explain why your number is the smallest possible.
I'm rather confused what counts as what on this puzzle. For example, if I have two individual 2x1 segments at any point, could I theoretically hold them side by side, forming a 2x2 grid (or something like that), and snap them both with one 'break', thus resulting in 4 individual squares? If so, what is the limit on that - I mean, theoretically holding 16 2x1's all in a row and trying to snap them all into their individual squares with one 'break' I don't see as actually being possible in a real situation...
Also errr
