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Cutting Rectangular Computer Chips Out of a Round Silicon Wafer
The silicon wafers used in manufacturing computer chips are round.
The chips that go into your computer are rectangular. A single round
wafer is cut into many small rectangular chips. Any left over pieces
that are not big enough to cut out a rectangle of the dimensions of the
chip must be discarded.
Getting Started
If you are given a round wafer of a fixed radius and must cut rectangular
chips of
a given fixed length and width from it, how many
chips can you cut out and how much waste will there be?
Going Deeper
If you can order wafers of any radius you like up to some maximum size,
what is the best choice
of radius for a given length and width chip?
Find out more about computer chip manufacturing. How large are the wafers? How large are real computer chips?
Communicated by A. Heinricher.
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