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Problem Posts |  |
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Image Credit: "Cardboard Box City" by James Nash. Licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.
No, I don't think they'll make you solve this problem in fifteen seconds mentally. |
You may wonder why I used the P-word for something as "simple" as packing boxes. I mean, the question is straightforward... right?
THE PROBLEM
You have a big rectangular pallet upon which you must place identical rectangular boxes. You can't stack, collapse, or overlap boxes. The sides of the boxes have to parallel to one of the sides of the pallet. What's the maximum number of boxes you can place?
You have a big rectangular pallet upon which you must place identical rectangular boxes. You can't stack, collapse, or overlap boxes. The sides of the boxes have to parallel to one of the sides of the pallet. What's the maximum number of boxes you can place?
It's a familiar but unremarkable question, especially for many mathletes who've had to do it under time pressure. (Fifteen seconds mental? Easy!) And the real-life applications are obvious - putting things into shipping containers, for example.
