Another angle

WITH reference to the recent story that triangular flapjacks have been banned by a school down south, as they pose a hazard to pupils, the following thoughts occur.

The inside angle of a equal-in-length, multi-sided flapjack is: Angle = 180 – 360/n, where n is the number of sides. For a triangle, the inside angle equals 60 degrees. For a square, the inside angle equals 90 degrees; for a hexagon, the inside angle equals 120 degrees; for an octagon, the inside angle is 135 degrees; and when the number of sides approaches infinity, the angle becomes 180 ­degrees – a flat surface.

Therefore, the more sides the flapjack has, the greater the angle becomes, and, hence, the less pointed it ­becomes.

However, in the lesser-­sided flapjack, as in a triangle, the greater is the chance of a thrown flapjack striking a target with a flat surface, rather than a corner.

Does this not mean that a triangular flapjack is safer than a square one, when thrown at someone?

Michael J Dawson

Edinburgh