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Can you cut a cake fairly to solve this middle school math problem?
#1
Can you cut a cake fairly to solve this middle school math problem?
When Poca, Alex, Rob and Whatshisname came for a visit, Losty baked a cake.  It was a square cake which she frosted on the sides and on top with yummy cream cheese frosting.  "I want a big piece of cake" said Poca.  "Just make sure my piece has a maximally quantum-big portion of frosting" said Alex.  "Be fair!" exclaimed Rob.  "Whatever" said Whatshisname.

How can Losty cut the cake so as to give all five of them the largest piece possible with each containing an equal share of both cake and frosting?  Oh, and to keep it interesting, lets do it with the fewest possible straight cuts with a knife (so no, you can't dump it all in a blender and measure out equal shares of sludge).  Surprisingly (hint, hint) the dimensions of the cake are irrelevant but if you really, really want to know, the size of the actual cake is given below.





*Edited to clear up the fact that the entire cake is to be used up making these five equal servings.  Thank you: [Image: avatar_1310.jpg?dateline=1290499412]

 
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#2
RE: Can you cut a cake fairly to solve this middle school math problem?
Why can't Losty make 5 cakes ??


She lazy or sumthin' ??
 The granting of a pardon is an imputation of guilt, and the acceptance a confession of it. 




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#3
RE: Can you cut a cake fairly to solve this middle school math problem?
Tongue
 The granting of a pardon is an imputation of guilt, and the acceptance a confession of it. 




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#4
RE: Can you cut a cake fairly to solve this middle school math problem?
(August 14, 2016 at 8:40 am)vorlon13 Wrote: Why can't Losty make 5 cakes ??


She lazy or sumthin' ??

To be fair, she is still in there making our sammiches.  So I'm cutting her a little slack.
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#5
RE: Can you cut a cake fairly to solve this middle school math problem?
Is there a requirement that all of the cake has to make it into the 5 portions?
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#6
RE: Can you cut a cake fairly to solve this middle school math problem?
BTW, Losty isn't really dressed for kitchen success either . . . .

[Image: 1e56089891bc8259f63be319f118dd97.jpg]
 The granting of a pardon is an imputation of guilt, and the acceptance a confession of it. 




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#7
RE: Can you cut a cake fairly to solve this middle school math problem?
(August 14, 2016 at 8:48 am)Anomalocaris Wrote: Is there a requirement that all of the cake has to make it into the 5 portions?

Yes indeed!  Thanks for clearing that up!
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#8
RE: Can you cut a cake fairly to solve this middle school math problem?
True story.: My stepson introduced me to this problem when his teacher gave it to them at the start of class. She'd just come back from a conference where she'd worked on it for a while without finishing it. He saw the answer right away and told it to her after class. Her reaction was it couldn't be that simple but then she realized he was right.
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#9
RE: Can you cut a cake fairly to solve this middle school math problem?
[Image: MJrKoRvS.jpg]
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#10
RE: Can you cut a cake fairly to solve this middle school math problem?
Does it involve shaving off frosting and portioning the cake and frosting separately?
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