The Scientific Way to Cut a Cake - Numberphile

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Alex Bellos on cutting a cake using scientific principles.

NUMBERPHILE

Videos by Brady Haran

[leannb]

alternative solution: eat the entire cake in one sitting

[steveger]

Unless it's a mathematician's party, stating "You're cutting this cake in a very faulty way" will probably result in not being invited again.

[christophergaspar]

nice statement at the end
he kept it obvious
"this is for mathematical loners who don't want to share their cakes"

[GoBobe]

I did this to my own birthday cake 2 years ago, and i was almost crucified by my own family in the sushi restaurant. 😓😑

[JoshuaRobertMoser]

I think he's overestimating how long a cake lasts in the average household.

[karffiol]

everybody knows there is no day two for a cake

[SickSkilz]

This is a great way for a single guy with no friends to ensure that the suffering another birthday alone is drawn out for as many days as possible.

[apriljones]

“Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.”

[AngelofHogwarts]

What is this foreign concept of a "leftover cake"?

[Chaonk]

Sorry guys. But I learned long ago that when it comes to food, it is best not to trust anyone with a British accent. 

[thechickennuggetoffate]

*_"Maximizing the amount of gastronomic pleasure"_*

[yahyakhan]

POV : you thought the 301 vid would be the most popular but realised its their least viewed vid lol

[mordaren]

This might be satisfying for mathematicians, but a physicist will point out that the rubber band will stretch when put in a cool refridgerator. Thus the effect of the rubber band is nullified, and you've opened up for up to 4 times as much surface area exposal than what you tried to get away from when simply slicing out a wedge.

A potentially more satisfying way would be to simply chop disks from off the bottom of the cake.

[DizzIlike]

People's faces when I cut the cake at the next birthday party...

[nathanaelsadgrove]

Love the elastic band inefficiency 😂😂

[manofthemoon]

Fun fact: The true number of views of a video about “301” will be much higher than the number of views of this video😂

[AlanKey]

Ingenious as this method may be, for solving 1 problem, I spot 2 new problems it creates:
*1. Icing Overload* Near the end, when you've already gobbled up most of the cake, you'll be left with weird outside edgy bits, thick with icing but lacking sponge. The icing-sponge ratio of those last few pieces will be all wrong.

*2. Tensile Stress Overload* In order to not get a massively oversized 1st slice, you'd have to cut quite a narrow block from the centre of the cake. The sponge may lack the strength to hold itself together, being so thin. At least with a wedge you maximise structural integrity by essentially having a traingular piece of cake.

Thank you for reading this comment. If you enjoyed this comment, you might like to try reading other comments, such as the one below mine.

[litigioussociety]

This only applies to people who actually have leftover cake.

[Thenpfdlkmax]

Fun fact this is his most popular video but it's actually the one about 301 views

[MarcusCactus]

Thank you so much !!! Since Îve seen this, I cut my bread and my camembert (or Saint-Marcellin, or goat cheese) according to your cut and YES! it keeps fresh. (I live alone, bread and cheese last longer than a meal.)