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The Perfect Way To Slice a Pizza

Posted by samzenpus on from the equal-distribution-of-the-pie dept.

iamapizza writes "New Scientist reports on the quest of two math boffins for the perfect way to slice a pizza. It's an interesting and in-depth article; 'The problem that bothered them was this. Suppose the harried waiter cuts the pizza off-center, but with all the edge-to-edge cuts crossing at a single point, and with the same angle between adjacent cuts. The off-center cuts mean the slices will not all be the same size, so if two people take turns to take neighboring slices, will they get equal shares by the time they have gone right round the pizza — and if not, who will get more?' This is useful, of course, if you're familiar with the concept of 'sharing' a pizza."

11 of 282 comments (clear)

  1. Unsure. by Hillview · · Score: 5, Funny

    My biggest pizza cutting dilemma happened just the other day. I wasn't sure I could eat six pieces, so I cut it into four.

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    1. Re:Unsure. by SomeoneGotMyNick · · Score: 5, Funny

      A standard pizza is usually cut in 8 pieces. Who cuts it into 6?

      It was a Metric pizza

    2. Re:Unsure. by von_rick · · Score: 4, Funny

      Could be a group of 1.5 people as well.

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    3. Re:Unsure. by crazypip666 · · Score: 5, Funny

      A metric pizza should have ten slices.

    4. Re:Unsure. by CecilPL · · Score: 5, Funny

      This thread is going nowhere.

    5. Re:Unsure. by Vainglorious+Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      A metric pizza would have a circumference of 1 meter

      More likely metric would follow the pattern of paper sizing, so an A0 pizza would have an area of 1 square meter (for a diameter of ~ 113cm), an A1 pizza would be 0.5 square meters (diameter 80cm), A2 would have half that area and so on. A typical pizza would be A4 : an area of one sixteenth of a square meter, so a diameter of close to 30 cm.

      Then there's the B series, which works in the same way, but starting from B0 having an area of 0.5 square meters, and with the inclusion of anchovys.

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  2. Re:Limewire by AndrewNeo · · Score: 4, Funny

    "You wouldn't copy a pizza, would you?"

  3. 4 whole pieces? by NoPantsJim · · Score: 5, Funny

    I prefer to roll mine into a giant tube, thus consuming only one piece.

    Also, when people ask what I had for breakfast, I can respond with "A wrap"

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  4. 11 by hoggoth · · Score: 4, Funny

    I always maximize my pizza by cutting it into 11 pieces. That way I get much more pizza than most people. I get 11 slices.

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  5. Back in the day... by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 4, Funny

    when I worked at Godfather's Pizza, I finally "graduated" to cut table. The guy to cut the pizzas and call out the orders. I used to enjoy having fun sometimes when a pair of semi-buzzed guys would come in and order a pizza. Cut the pizza into 9 pieces with the roller, rather than the rocker, and watch them get upset over who gets the last piece! Ah, fun times as a teenager...

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  6. Physicist Pizza by LanMan04 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Are we talking perfectly round, frictionless pizzas?

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