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The sprinkler problem – a mathematician waters the lawn

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2016

Michael A. Jones and
Janet L. Stonick
Michael A. Jones
Affiliation:
Montclair State University, Upper Montclair, NJ 07043 USA
Janet L. Stonick
Affiliation:
Orange County Community College Middletown, NY 10940 USA
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You never know from where your next mathematical problem will come. I was surprised to find it, literally, in my own back yard. Recently, I was trying to determine the optimal way to water the lawn. I say ‘optimal’ because there are a couple of constraints that I try to minimise. First, I try to minimise the area of the wasted water. Water is wasted if it lands on the concrete that borders the lawn or if it lands on a region of the grass that has already been watered. Second, I try to minimise the number of times that I have to move the sprinkler. More often than not, I forget to move it anyway. So, it might as well be as a minimum.

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Articles
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The Mathematical Gazette , Volume 90 , Issue 517 , March 2006, pp. 50 - 56
Copyright
Copyright © The Mathematical Association 2006

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