Did You Find Out? Get the Answer to the Riddle of E-News Issue No. 3, July 2020
Dividing a Circular Area
Divide the circular area with four straight lines into as many pieces as possible.
At the end of a geometry lesson, a teacher presents his students with the following geometric puzzle: What is the maximum number of parts in which a circular area with four straight lines can be divided into and how do these lines have to be arranged? The parts do not necessarily have to be the same size. As an example, the teacher draws a circle with eight parts (see picture aside) on the board and adds that it is possible to get more than just these eight parts.
What is the maximum number of pieces you can divide the circle into?
Solution
You can use four straight lines to divide the circle into a maximum of 11 parts. This number is obtained by intersecting each line with every other line and by not having more than two lines intersect. A possible solution would be the following:
倍加福（北京）过程自动化控制设备有限公司
北京市经济技术开发区
科创十四街99号7号楼3101室
101111 Beijing
中国
pa-info@cn.pepperl-fuchs.com
+86 10 5901 7000
上海倍加福工业自动化贸易有限公司
上海市静安区市北工业园区江场三路
219号4楼
200436 上海
中国
fa-info@cn.pepperl-fuchs.com
+86 21 6630 3939
德国倍加福公司（P+F）是全球自动化行业中久负盛名的专业传感器公司。倍加福作为全球自动化领域的电子传感与零部件的生产主导者，凭借不断的创新，恒久的质量保证，稳健的发展，保证了迄今六十余年的辉煌成就。倍加福在全球范围内拥有6300名员工，位于德国，美国，新加坡，匈牙利，印度尼西亚和越南的生产基地几乎全部通过了ISO9001的质量认证。