Question

You have a crunchy granola bar that is 6 by 4 squares. You try to break it several times in such a way that all squares become separate. At each step you are allowed to break the bar along any continuous line (as long as it goes along the edges of the squares, not through the squares. They should not intersect or touch itself) . You cannot stack the pieces together to break them. What is the possible minimal number of breaks required to separate all the squares

Answer 1

23 is the possible minimal number of breaks required to separate all the squares.

Explanation:

The crunchy granola bar is six by 4 squares.

Gives m=6 and n=4

It means there is m x n= 6 x 4=24 pieces in the crunchy granola bar.

Break the bar several times in such a way that all squares become separate. It means breaking the bar into single pieces. Which says single piece =k

To get 24 separate pieces of a crunchy granola bar. We use the formula:

= (m x n) – k

= (6 x 4) – 1

= 24 – 1

= 23 is the possible minimal number of breaks required to separate all the squares.