Cambridge Chat (previously New Cambridge Students Entry 2004)

If you mean, what is the maximum number of pieces of cake you can get with 4 cuts, I don't think it's possible to answer that unless you specify, for example, that every cut must be a straight line or restrictions like that. Is it meant to have an actual answer?

For example, you could do the first cut as cutting the cake (with one continuous cut) in a spiral shape, then use the other 3 cuts to trisect the whole cake. The number of pieces you'd get from this would depend on the size of cake and how close together you are able to cut successive "rounds"/whorls of the spiral.

If you mean, what is the maximum number of pieces of cake you can get with 4 cuts, I don't think it's possible to answer that unless you specify, for example, that every cut must be a straight line or restrictions like that. Is it meant to have an actual answer?

For example, you could do the first cut as cutting the cake (with one continuous cut) in a spiral shape, then use the other 3 cuts to trisect the whole cake. The number of pieces you'd get from this would depend on the size of cake and how close together you are able to cut successive "rounds"/whorls of the spiral.

MW was the interviewer. I said 11 pieces but it wasn't the right number.

If you mean, what is the maximum number of pieces of cake you can get with 4 cuts, I don't think it's possible to answer that unless you specify, for example, that every cut must be a straight line or restrictions like that. Is it meant to have an actual answer?

For example, you could do the first cut as cutting the cake (with one continuous cut) in a spiral shape, then use the other 3 cuts to trisect the whole cake. The number of pieces you'd get from this would depend on the size of cake and how close together you are able to cut successive "rounds"/whorls of the spiral.

how did you get that?

I'm just saying that unless the question had restrictions on the type of cuts you could use, I don't think it's possible to answer it with a single number.

From some teacher from a long time ago. he said 11 so I remembered 11 and 11 was incorrect.

It's more interesting if the interviewer asked people to cut a mellon... Thinking about it now is enough to make me dizzy.

I thought it was interesting

yeah, i am just confused now.

I've been told that many times. People always assume I want to be a doctor or am studying medicine. One of my old teachers (Y9 geography, she left the school after that so she hadn't seen me for years) was in at work the other day and she straight out assumed I was doing medicine..

next time I go back to china, I'm going to try it out on no less than 20 water mellons.

You could treat the melon two dimensionally if you wanted to.

Yes, but a cake is less complex than a sphere if you consider cutting it?