Cutting Six-Pack Rings.


Sean Sather-Wagstaff
Department of Mathematics
5pm, November 21, 2008
Minard 334

Abstract: I was taught to cut up the plastic rings that hold six-packs together so that they don't hurt the animals at the landfill. The point is to cut the plastic so that there are no rings (loops) left. What is the smallest number of cuts required to accomplish this? Naturally, the answer depends on the shape of the rings. We will answer this question using basic graph theory.