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Euler paths and circuits

Eric delivered newspapers in his neighborhood. When he went on summer vacation, he got his neighbor, Caryn, to deliver his papers for him. He gave her a map with lines in front of the houses he needed to deliver to. For the streets with houses on both sides, he drew two lines to represent both sides:

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He claimed to have found a route that allowed him to deliver all the papers without backtrackinggoing back over the side of a street where hed already been. Find such a route, beginning with Erics housethe E near intersection 12. (You can indicate a path using the intersection labels. For example, to show moving from intersection 1 to 7 and then to 8, you could write 1-7-8.) Is there more than one such route? Find a second one, if possible. Can you nd a route like this that doesnt start (or end) at intersection 12 (Erics house)?
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Problems with a Point: June 17, 2002

Euler paths and circuits: Problem

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Caryn liked the map, but she pointed out that by the route he chose, hed have to walk an extra block when he was done, from the last house back to his. She added a line for that block, which made the route both begin and end at his house. Where did she draw that line? With that line drawn in, nd a route that travels every line without backtracking and doesnt start or end at Erics house. (a) Where does the path start and end? (b) Could you follow the same path with a dierent starting place? Explain.
Euler is pronounced oiler. Leonhard Euler was a Swiss mathematician in the 1700s.

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An Euler path through a vertex-edge graph is a path with which every edge is travelled exactly once. If the start and end point are the same, the path is an Euler circuit. 6. For each of the following, try to nd an Euler circuit. If there is no such circuit, see if you can nd an Euler path.

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Make a conjecture: How can you tell if a graph will have an Euler path or circuit? (Compare the graphs in problem 6. You may also want to create some simple graphs for additional exploration.) Challenge Prove your conjecture.
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Problems with a Point: June 17, 2002

Euler paths and circuits: Hints

Hints
Hint for problem 1. If youre having trouble nding a path that travels every line, rst make a path that goes as long as you can get it to. Where did it end? Make another path, as long as you can. Where did it end? Heres the real hint: Avoid that end as long as you can. Hint for problem 6. Not all of these have circuits or even paths, so dont spend too much time on each. If youve make a few attempts and havent found a path or circuit, go on to the next one. Bonus hint for parts gi: Hm, did you notice that the vertices were in alphabetical order for parts af? But they arent for parts gi. You know, letters arent just used for labels, theyre also used to spell things. . . . Hint for problems 7 and 8. Count how many times an edge touch a particular vertex. (Loops touch twice, so they count twice. In problem 6g, for example, vertex O has four edges.) An odd vertex has an odd number of edges. Why is this a hint? (Find the odd vertices. . . .)

Problems with a Point: June 17, 2002

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Euler paths and circuits: Answers

Answers
1. One possible route is 12-13-14-6-5-4-4-3-2-1-7-10-15-16-1718-19-14-19-18-13-18-17-12-17-16-11-16-15-10-11-12-11-107-8-11-8-9-8-2-8-7-1-2-3-9-3-5-9 There are many possible routestoo many to list here. All begin at 12 and end at 9. (In fact, if you avoid going to 9 a third time as long as possible, you will always nd a path that travels each segment.) No, every such path must have intersections 9 and 12 as its endpoints. The line goes between intersections 9 and 12. Any response to problem 1 could become an answer here, by starting anywhere other than the rst 12, following the last 9 with the rst 12, and then continuing from there until you reach where you started. (b) Yes, in fact the path can start and end anywhereonce you have such a path, its a loop that has no endpoints. You can start anywhere and follow the same path. There is no circuit, but there are several Euler paths (each with A and D for its endpoints). One such path is A-D-B -E -C -B -A-D. This graph has neither an Euler circuit nor an Euler path. One Euler circuit is L-M -L-O-N -L. Again, there are several possible paths. They must have A and I as endpoints. For example. A-E -A-B E -H -I - F -B - C - D -G -J -G -C -F - I . There is neither an Euler circuit nor an Euler path. There are many Euler paths (but no circuits), each with X and A as endpoints. For example, X -Y -X -Z C - Z - B - C - B - E - F - E - Y - A- D - F - D - A. Again there are several possible paths. They must have M and L as their endpoints. One such path is M -AT -H -E -M -A-T -I -C -S -I -S -C -O-O-L. This one has several possible Euler circuits, and each can start at any vertex. One circuit is T -H -I -S -I -S E -A-S -Y -T -R-Y -I -T .

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(b) (c) (d)

(e) (f)

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Teachers Note: The graph in part f is nearly the same as the one in part e. The vertices with only one entry and one exitN , T , W , and M have been removed, leaving a more direct route between their adjacent vertices. This doesnt really change whether there is a path or circuit. However, one edge has been added, from E to Y which makes it possible to nd an Euler path.

Problems with a Point: June 17, 2002

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Euler paths and circuits: Answers

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Extension: An added bonusand possible motivationfor parts gi is the phrases that can be spelled by carefully chosen paths. If students seem to like this idea, have them create their own puzzlesbut they should decide rst whether the puzzle should be a path, a circuit, or neither.

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There is neither an Euler circuit nor an Euler path. (Although it looks like, for example, D-O-E -S -N -T W -O-R-K -D-O-E -S -I -T might be one, this path misses two edges, between I and W and between R and E .)

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If all the vertices have an even number of edges, theres an Euler circuit through the graph. (Loopswhich start and end at the same vertexare counted as two edges for that particular vertex, once for each end of the edge.) If there are exactly two vertices with an odd number of edges, there is a path (with those two vertices as endpoints) but no circuit. If there are more than two vertices, there is neither a circuit nor path. First, recognize that if you nd the number of edges at each vertex and add all these numbers together, you get an even number. This is because each edge has two endpoints, so each contributes to the number of edges at two vertices. To form a circuit, you must be able to leave a vertex each time you enter it. The vertices must all have an even number of edges, then. For example, if you visit a vertex twice, it must have 4 edges: the rst entry, the rst exit, the second entry, and the second exit. If the vertex is the starting and end point, you start by exitingwith no entrybut you also must end by entering without exit. So there are an even number of edges for that vertex, too. Now suppose one vertex has an odd number of edges. (Call this an odd vertex.) Then, since there must be an even number of edges counted, there must be at least one more odd vertex. Each odd vertex can be entered once without being exited, or exited without being entered. If there are only two odd vertices, then all other vertices will be entered as many times as exited. So choosing one odd vertex as the starting point, you can exit it (using the one extra exit), move through all the other vertices (using edges in pairs as entrance-exit), and nish at the other odd vertex (using the one extra entry). This is an Euler path. However, you can use an odd number of edges only for the starting and ending vertices, so there cant be an Euler path through a graph with more than two odd vertices.

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Problems with a Point: June 17, 2002

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