You have a birthday cake and have exactly 3 cuts to cut it into 8 equal pieces. How do you do it?

 

Try figuring this one out on your own – as a hint we’ll tell you that you’ll have to “think out of the box” to get the answer. There is definitely something unique that you will have to do in order to come up with the answer. You can read the answer below.

The answer: stack the pieces

The “correct” answer is to cut the cake in quarters (4 pieces) using 2 of the cuts – one horizontally down the center of the cake and the other vertically down the center of the cake. This will leave you with 4 pieces (or slices) of cake. Then, you can take all 4 pieces and arrange them in a stack that is 4 pieces high. Finally, you can just cut that stack of 4 pieces in half – using your third and final cut – and then you will end up with 8 pieces of cake!

You might think of this as sort of a trick question, since moving the pieces is something “out of the box” – but somebody asking this question is probably looking for that kind of out of the box thinking.

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