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Colouring and planar graphs

Chromatic number, Euler's formula V − E + F = 2, and the four-colour theorem.

Colour vertices so neighbours differ; the fewest colours needed is the chromatic number. For a planar graph V − E + F = 2, which bounds edges by 3V − 6 and shows K₅ is not planar. Picture it: any map needs at most four colours, proven with a computer in 1976. Think it: Euler's formula is the Euler characteristic, the same invariant that distinguishes a sphere from a torus.

Worked example · 6 - 2

Arithmetic · Arithmetic

Evaluate 6 - 2

6 - 2

Step by step

  1. -2 + 6 = 4

    Add: -2 + 6 = 4.

Reveal the answer
4

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How to: Colouring and planar graphs

  1. Add: -2 + 6 = 4.

Questions people ask

Permutation or combination?

Ask whether order matters. A lock code is a permutation (order matters); a hand of cards is a combination (it does not).

What is a graph in this sense?

Dots (vertices) joined by lines (edges), not a plot. Road maps, social networks and molecules are graphs; questions like "is there a route" and "how few colours" are graph theory.

More in Combinatorics & Graph Theory

The counting principlesPigeonhole principle and inclusion, exclusionBinomial coefficients and Pascal's triangleRecurrences and generating functionsGraphs: vertices, edges, degreesPaths, cycles, trees, Euler and Hamilton