Class Activity 5

How to Share a Sandwich

Alice, Bob, and Chris will split a 24-inch sub that costs $12. The first 8 inches are turkey, the
second 8 inches are roast beef, and the last 8 inches are vegetarian. The players value the different
portions of the sub differently.

• Alice likes roast beef three times as much as turkey and vegetarian twice as much as turkey.

• Bob likes turkey twice as much as vegetarian but likes roast beef and vegetarian equally.

• Chris likes turkey four times as much as vegetarian, and roast beef three times as much as
vegetarian.

1. Determine how much (as a dollar amount) each player values the different portions of the
sub. Round to the nearest cent if necessary. (This will be helpful for the remainder of the
problems.)

2. Alice, Bob, and Chris decide to split the sandwich using the Lone Divider method. They
draw straws and Alice lose, so she’s the divider.
Important: For this activity, we want everyone to work with the same pieces of the sandwich.
To keep things consistent:

• Assume all cuts are made perpendicular to the length of the sub.
• The sandwich must be divided into 3 continuous pieces (i.e., no mixing bits from
different parts).
• The divider (Alice) makes exactly two cuts, so that each piece is one unbroken portion
of the sub.
For example, if Alice cuts at the 4-inch and 16-inch marks, then the three pieces would be:
s1 : first 4 inches (turkey), s2 : next 12 inches (turkey + roast beef + vegetarian), s3 : last 8
inches (vegetarian).

(a) Alice divides the sandwich into 3 continuous pieces that she values equally, using 2
perpendicular cuts. Label the pieces s1 , s2 , and s3 . Clearly describe what portion of the
sandwich each one contains.
(Everyone should use the same three pieces! Assume Alice cuts at the -inch and
-inch marks, as calculated based on her value system.)

(b) Complete the following table by determining how much Bob and Chris value each of the
3 pieces, and what their bidsets will be.

s1 s2 s3 Bid
Alice $4 $4 $4 s1 , s2 , s3
Bob
Chris

(c) You should find that there’s a standoff between Bob and Chris. Give Alice piece s3
(which should be U -piece) and recombine s1 and s2 into a large B-piece. Bob and Chris
flip a coin, and Bob becomes the divider. Bob divides this into two pieces, b1 and b2 , by
making just 1 cut. Describe these pieces.
(d) Determine how much Chris values each of these two pieces and which share he will
choose.

(e) Determine how much each player values each of the 3 resulting pieces (s3 , b1 , and b2 ).
i. Was the division fair? i.e. Does each player value their own piece to be worth at
least $4?
ii. Was the division envy-free? i.e. Does any player value another player’s piece more
than their own?
3. Suppose instead that Alice, Bob, and Chris decided to use the Lone Chooser method to
divide the sandwich. This method proceeds as follows:

• Step 0. Randomly select a chooser (C). The other two players are dividers (D1 and
D2 ).
• Step 1 (First Division). D1 and D2 divide S between themselves using the Divider-
Chooser method. Suppose D1 ends up with piece s1 and D2 ends up with piece s2 .
• Step 2 (Subdivision). Each divider divides their piece into three sub-shares. D1
divides s1 into three subshares, which we will call s1a , s1b , and s1c . Similarly, D2 divides
s2 into three subshares, which we will call s2a , s2b , and s2c .
• Step 3 (Selection). C now selects one of D1 ’s three subshares and one of D2 ’s three
subshares. These two subshares make up C’s final share. D1 then keeps the remaining
two subshares from s1 , and D2 keeps the remaining two subshares from s2 .

Alice, Bob, and Chris each guess a random number and determine that Chris is the chooser,
while Alice and Bob are the dividers.

(a) Alice and Bob begin by performing Divider-Chooser between themselves. Suppose Alice
is the divider. She divides the sandwich into two continuous pieces, s1 and s2 , which she
values equally, by making one perpendicular cut. Clearly describe the contents of each
piece.

(b) Determine how much Bob values each of the two pieces and state which piece he will
choose.

(c) Now, Alice and Bob each divide their own pieces into 3 equal and continuous pieces,
s1a , s1b , s1c , s2a , s2b , s2c , by each making 2 cuts. Clearly describe the contents of each
subshare.
(d) Chris now chooses one subshare from Alice’s group (s1a , s1b , s1c ) and one from Bob’s
group (s2a , s2b , s2c ). Determine how much Chris values each subshare and which ones he
will select.

(e) Each player has now received a share consisting of 2 pieces. Determine how much each
player values their own share, and the other players’ shares.
i. Was the division fair?
ii. Was the division envy-free?
4. (If time) Unsatisfied that the previous fair divisions were not envy-free, Alice suggests using
the Selfridge–Conway division method, which she recently encountered. It proceeds as follows:

• Step 0. Randomly assign roles: one player will be the divider (D), one the trimmer
(T ), and one the chooser (C).
• Step 1 (Division). D divides the object into 3 equal pieces (in their opinion).
• Step 2 (Trimming). T inspects the three pieces:
– If T believes that at least two pieces are tied for best, T passes and no trimming is
done.
– Otherwise, T trims their most valuable piece until it is tied in value (in their opinion)
with the next-best piece. The trimmings are set aside as a separate portion t.
• Step 3 (Choosing).
Case 1 (No trimming): The chooser C selects a piece first, followed by T , then D.
Case 2 (Trimming occurred): The chooser C still selects first. If C does not take
the trimmed piece, then T must take it. D takes the remaining piece.
• Possible Step 4 (Dividing Trimmings). Only if trimming occurred:
Case 1: If C took the trimmed piece, then T divides the trimmings into 3 shares.
The order of selection is: C, then D, then T .
Case 2: If T took the trimmed piece, then C divides the trimmings into 3 shares.
The order of selection is: T , then D, then C.

The friends roll some dice and determine that Chris will be the divider, Bob will be the
trimmer, and Alice will be the chooser.

(a) Chris divides the sub into three continuous pieces that he values equally. Label these as
s1 , s2 , and s3 . Clearly describe what portion of the sandwich each piece contains.

(b) Determine how much Bob values each of these three pieces.
(c) It should be the case that Bob finds one of the pieces more valuable than the others.
Determine which piece that was and how much he needs to trim off to make it equal to
the next most valuable piece. Label the trimmings as t and set them aside.

(d) Alice now chooses among the two untrimmed pieces and the trimmed piece. Determine
how much Alice values each of the three, and indicate which piece each player receives.

(e) Now, it’s time to divide the trimmings. The order of this process will depend on which
piece Alice took in the previous step. Determine who divides the trimmings, how they
will be divided, and who takes which piece.

(f) Determine how much each player values each of the players’ shares.
i. Was the division fair?
ii. Was the division envy-free?