Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

ham sandwich theorem

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.46 in modern English

Syllables
ham sand-wich the-o-rem
IPA
37
Scrabble Score
18
Letters
4
Syllables
13
Unique Chars

Meaning

name

A theorem stating that, given n measurable "objects" in n-dimensional Euclidean space, it is possible to divide all of them in half (with respect to their measure, i.e. volume) with a single (n−1)-dimensional hyperplane.

Etymology

By analogy with cutting a sandwich having three layers (two of bread and one of ham), for the case where n=3.

Inflected Forms

the ham sandwich theorem (canonical)

Phrases

cake-cutting pancake theorem

Frequently Paired Words

cake-cutting pancake theorem

Questions

What does ham sandwich theorem mean?
A theorem stating that, given n measurable "objects" in n-dimensional Euclidean space, it is possible to divide all of them in half (with respect to their measure, i.e. volume) with a single (n−1)-dimensional hyperplane.
Where does ham sandwich theorem come from?
By analogy with cutting a sandwich having three layers (two of bread and one of ham), for the case where n=3.

How to pronounce ham sandwich theorem

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  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
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