POW#3DaveBakesaPie

ThethirdProblemoftheWeekwastheDaveBakesaPieproblem,asshownabove.
Inthisparticularproblem,Davewantedtofigureouthowmanypiecesofapiecouldpossiblybe
createdwhenacertainnumberofcutshasbeenmadetothatpie.Therequirementsforthis
problemwerethatpieceshadtobecutallthewaythroughthepie,butthatthepiecesdidnthave
tobecutthroughthecenterofthepie.Inaddition,thepiecesdidnothavetobethesameshape
orsize.Basedontheserequirements,anexactnumberofpiecesshouldbefoundfromacertain
numberofcutsmadetothepie.

OnthebackoftheProblemoftheWeekhandoutwasarguablythemostimportantbit
ofinformationIwouldneedtosolvetheproblem.Belowisthissamediagramthathelpedme
formmythinkingprocessandbrainstormhowIwouldbegintosolvetheproblem.

NumberofCuts
(Input)

MaximumNumberofPieces
(Output)

Priortodoinganythingelserelatedtotheproblem,Ithought,
BeforeIphysicallyfind
themaximumnumberofpiecesIcangetfromacertainnumberofcuts,Imightaswellutilizethe
informationthathasbeengiventomebysolvingthequestionmarkstothistable.
Andthats
exactlywhatIdid.Ittookmeawhiletoseeapatterninthetablebutafterawhile,Igotthisas
myanswerforthemaximumnumberofpiecesthatcouldbecreatedfromfourandfivecuts.

NumberofCuts
(Input)

MaximumNumberofPieces
(Output)

11

16

Asyoucansee,Iwasabletorecognizethemaximumnumberofpiecesforeachnumber
ofcutsbyaddingthemaximumnumberofpieces(output)fromthepreviousrowtothenumber
ofcuts(input)inthecurrentrowIwasworkingwith.Bydoingthis,forexample,twoplustwo
wouldequalfour,fourplusthreewouldequalsevenandsoonandsoforth.Thiswasmyinitial
wayofsolvingtofiveandeventuallytoten(shownbelow)butthenIcameacrossanewwayto
solvetheproblem.Byaddingtheinput,anypositiveintegersbeforeitnumerically(ex:1,2,3,
4,5)andone,youcanalsogettheoutput.Intheproblem,elevenisthemaximumnumberof
piecesthatcanbecreatedfromjustfourcuts.Likewise,fourplusthreeplustwoplusone,plus
anotheroneaddsuptoeleven.Trackingbackhowever,anacceptableequationthatcouldbe
usedformyfirstmethodis

y=py+x

y=maximumnumberofpieces(output)
py=maximumnumberofpiecesforpreviousnumberofcuts
x=numberofcuts(input)

ThenIexpandeduponthistableevenmore,addingfivemorerowstothepreviousfive
(sixifyoucountthelabels)alreadyexistinginthetable.Thiswasmyanswerforthemaximum
numberofpiecesthatcouldbemadefromoneallthewayupto
ten
cuts.

NumberofCuts
(Input)

MaximumNumberofPieces
(Output)

11

16

22

29

37

46

10

56

Throughthistable,itisapparentthatthemaximumnumberofpiecesfortencutsis
fiftysix.Thiscanbegivenfromthefactthatifwecontinuethepatternaswehaveupabove,
fiftysixisequaltofortysixplusten.Belowisphysicalproofthatthistableandpatterntobe
specificworkinresponsetothequestionof,
Whatisthelargestnumberofpiecesthatcanbe
producedfromagivennumberofcuts?
Eachnumberistypedinadifferentcolorandthe
centernumberintheequationisalwaysequaltothecurrentnumberofcuts.

1
+1=
2
2
+2=
4
4
+3=
7
7
+4=
11
11
+5=
16
16
+6=
22
22
+7=
29
29
+8=
37
37
+9=
46
46
+10=
56

Interestinglyenough,nowhereintheproblemdiditaskofmetophysicallydrawthepies
andthewaytheywerecut.Thisaspectoftheproblemalonewasarguablythemostchallenging,
notthesolvingthepatternitself.Solvingthefirsttwoandeventhreestepstothepatternwas
simple,buttryingtofindaconfigurationoflinesforfourandfivecutswasacompletely
differentstory.Atfirst,Ibegantoplaywithdifferentwaysofplacingthelines.Butthen,I
wonderediftheproblemIwasplayingwithwascontinuous.Inotherwords,Ithoughtthatthe
patternwouldbeexactlythesameforexample,betweenstepsfourandfiveexceptforjustone
addedline.Afterexperimentingwiththisidea,Irealizedthatcreatingpiesforthenumberof
cutsandmaximumnumberofpieceswasjustaguessinggame.

Ibelievethatthispatternisoccurringsimplybecausebyaddingonelineontopatternata
time,onlyacertainnumberofintersectionpointsandforthatmatter,acertainnumberofpieces
canbecreated.Fromonetotwocutsforexample,thesecondcutcanonlycrossthoughtwo
piecesbecausetherearetwopieces.Andfromtwotothreecutsofthepie,thethirdcutcanonly
passthroughthreeofthepreviousfourpiecesbecausealinecannotcurveorreorientitselfto
passthroughthefinalwedge.Thisideaisntmathematicalortechnicalitsjustgeometricalin
thatalinecanonlypassthroughacertainnumberofsections.Thebalancebetweenmaximizing
thespacewithinthepieandpassingasinglelinethroughasmanysectionsaspossibleiswhat
makesthissideprobleminterestingandengaging.Inmyshorttimeplayingwiththe
piedrawingaspectoftheDaveBakesaPieproblem,Iwasabletosuccessfullydrawpiesupto
forfourandfivecuts,butnothingmorethanthat.Belowisamoreadvancedversionofthetable

above,showingcutsonethroughfiveandthemaximumnumberofpiecesforeachofthesecuts
(justlikebefore).Butunlikethepreviousthreetables,aseperatecollumnhasbeenaddedwhere
adiagramofthepiecangotobettershowtheseexamples.

NumberofCuts
(Input)

MaximumNumberof
Pieces
(Output)

PieDiagram

11

16

Whileworkingoutthisproblem,IthinkthatIdidextremelywellwithshowingallofmy
workthroughnumeralreasoning,equations,anddiagrams.Allofthesestepstohelpmesolve
theproblemgenuinelyprovidedmewithaclearprocesstogetmyfinalanswerinthetable
shownjustabove.IthinkIalsodidanicejobofcreatinganequationwithlabelsforthe

variableslistedbelow.IthinkmyonlyfaultinthisprocesswasthatIcouldhavecreateda
functiontoexplainthepatternwithmoreease.Thethingthatpreventedmefromdoingthiswas
notexactlyknowinghowtoproperlysetupafunction.Infuturescenarios,itmightbeagood
ideatolookupthingslikethis.Thesesmallchangeswonttakeawaytoomuchofmytime,but
will
enhancethequalityofmyworkforthegivenproblem.

IbelievethatItrulydeserveatenoutoftenonthisPOWbecauseIwasabletogivean
indepthbreakdownofapatternthatwasprettysimpleandselfexplanitory.Iwasevenableto
providemythoughtsonwhyIthinkthemaximumnumberofpiecescanbeprovenwiththe
numberofcutsintoacircle.Finally,Iwasabletoshowdiagramsasvisualsforthevaluesinthe
tableandequationasawhole.Althoughthisparticularstepwasunnecessaryinthesolvingof
theproblem,itreallyhelpedmevisualizetheproblemintermsofwhatIwassolvingandhowI
couldsolvethepattern.InthisPOW,IthinkIbestusedtheHabitsofaMathematician,
Visualization
and
LookForPatterns
.IwasabletouseVisualizationintheproblem
throughactuallydrawingoutthepiesandtheirintersectionpoints.LikeIsaid,thisreallyhelped
medealwithsolvingtheproblemandlookatthepatterninawayoutsideofwhatIsawonthe
paper.IjusthintedtomysecondHabitofaMathematician,LookForPatterns,andIwasableto
usethisbysearchingforconnectionsbetweenthevaluesintheinitialtablethatwasgiventome.
Overall,IthinkthiswasahelpfulPOWandIwillbesuretousethecontentandskillsIusedin
thisproblemtohelpmesolveotherproblems.

Anextension,andinthiscase,challengetotheexistingproblemwouldbetoinclude
numbershigherinvaluetothenumberofcutsproblem.Forexample,thethreeandthesevenin
thetablewouldbereplacedwithnineandfortysixandnumbersinthetwoothergivenrows
wouldincreasefromtheserepectivenumbers.Thetablecouldpossiblylooklike

NumberofCuts
(Input)

MaximumNumberofPieces
(Output)

46

13

92

21

26

Inadditiontothisaspectoftheproblem,itwouldberequiredforstudentstophysically
drawallofthepies,atleastupuntiltencuts.Thisisamassivechallengeincomparisontothe

problemIworkedwith,butIthinkforthisexample,studentsmighthavetwoorthreeweeksto
workontheproblemasopposedtojustone.IfthesechangesweremadetothePOW,itwould
beinterestingtoseehowthestudentssolvetheproblemfromateachersperspectiveand
discoverhowtheirexperiencecomparestomineinsolvingtheDaveBakesaPieproblem.