The lazy caterer’s sequence is used to work out the maximum number of pieces of a pancake or pizza (anything circular) that can be made with a given number of straight cuts.
3 cuts can create 6 pieces if all cuts meet at a single point, but 7 if they don’t.
It isn’t actually called the lazy caterer’s sequence at all – it is really the central polygonal number sequence. In three dimensions, it is known as the cake number.
Its formula is:
p is the number of pieces, n is the number of cuts used.
Sticking 23 in the equation provides:
That then, is why I’m writing about it today.
Day 287: The Day This Blog Became Useful | ThomasJPitts' Blog
14th October 2013 @ 10:20 pm
[…] about a quiz on BBC Four. Some people call it Only Connect. Because that’s its name. A few days ago I posted about the Lazy Caterer’s Sequence and this was the answer to a question on the quiz. […]