Lesson plan
Glove problem
In operations research and combinatorics, the glove problem (also known as the condom problem ) is an optimization problem asking for the minimum number of two-sided protective barriers needed for every member of one group to interact with every member of another without any barrier surface being exposed to two different people. It first appeared in print, in the form of doctors, patients and surgical gloves, in Martin Gardner's column in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine. It is also used as an example that the cheapest capital cost often leads to a dramatic increase in operational time, but that the shortest operational time need not be given by the most expensive capital cost.
Article summary
In operations research and combinatorics, the glove problem (also known as the condom problem ) is an optimization problem asking for the minimum number of two-sided protective barriers needed for every member of one group to interact with every member of another without any barrier surface being exposed to two different people. It first appeared in print, in the form of doctors, patients and surgical gloves, in Martin Gardner's column in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine. It is also used as an example that the cheapest capital cost often leads to a dramatic increase in operational time, but that the shortest operational time need not be given by the most expensive capital cost.
Key claims
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Discussion questions
- Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
- Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
- If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?
Bibliography
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Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.