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The Mathematics of Graphs Module With 4as
The Mathematics of Graphs Module With 4as
Module 6
The
Mathematics
of Graphs
Module Overview
What are Graphs and Euler Circuits?
What is Graph Coloring?
In this module, you will learn how to analyze and solve a variety of problems, such as
how to find the least expensive route to travel on a vacation, how to determine the most efficient
order in which to run errands, and how to schedule meetings at a conference so that no one has
two required meetings at the same time.
Module Outcomes
Use the mathematical concepts and tools in other areas such as in finance, voting, logic,
business, networks and system;
Support the use of mathematics in various aspects and endeavors in life.
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A Brief History
The methods we will use to study these problems can be traced back to an old
recreational puzzle. In the early eighteenth century, the Pregel River in a city called Königsberg
(located in modern-day Russia and now called Kaliningrad) surrounded an island before splitting
in two. Seven bridges crossed the river and connected four different land areas, similar to the
map drawn below.
Many citizens of the time attempted to take a stroll that would lead them across each
bridge and return them to the starting point without traversing the same bridge twice. None of
them could do it, no matter where they chose to start.
In 1736 the Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler (1707–1783) proved that it is, in fact,
impossible to walk such a path. His analysis of the challenge laid the groundwork for a branch of
mathematics known as graph theory. We will investigate how Euler approached the problem of
the seven bridges of Konigsberg in Lesson 1.
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Learning Outcomes
The students will be able to comprehend some basic concepts in Graph Theory which
can later on be applied on real world situations.
Time Frame: Self-paced learning
Introduction
Think of all the various connections we experience in our lives—friends are connected on
Facebook, cities are connected by roads, computers are connected across the Internet. A branch
of mathematics called graph theory illustrates and analyze connections such as these.
Activity 6.1. A pen-tracing puzzle is given below. See if you can find a way to trace the shape
without lifting your pen and without tracing over the same lines twice. [5 points each]
1. 2.
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3. 4.
2. What are the methods you use to be able to trace the figure/s successfully?
3. Is it necessary to start at a specific point and return to that point or is it okay to start
anywhere?
The diagram in illustration 1 could represent friends that are connected on Facebook.
Each dot represents a person, and a line segment connecting the two dots means that those two
people are friends on Facebook. This type of diagram Is called a graph. Note that this a different
kind of graph from the graph of a function.
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Illustration 1
Definition 1
Graphs can be used to represent many different scenarios. For instance, the three graphs
in Illustrations 2, 3 and 4 are the same graph as in Illustration 1 but used in different contexts. In
Illustration 2, each vertex represents a baseball team, and an edge connecting two vertices might
mean that the two teams played against each other during the current season. Note that the
placement of the vertices has nothing to do with geographical location; in fact, the vertices can
be shown in any arrangement we choose. The important information is which vertices are
connected by edges.
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Illustration 2
Illustration 3
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Illustration 3 shows the computer network of a small business. Each vertex represents a
computer, and the edges indicate which machines are directly connected to each other.
Illustration 4
The graph in Illustration 4 could be used to represent the flights available on a particular airline
between a selection of cities; each vertex represents a city, and an edge connecting two cities
means that there is a direct flight between the two cities.
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The following table lists five students at a college. An “X” indicates that the two students
participate in the same study group this semester.
Matt - X X
Amber X - X X
Oscar X - X
Laura X X -
Kayla X -
a. Draw a graph that represents this information where each vertex represents a student and
an edge connects two vertices if the corresponding students study together.
b. Use your graph to answer the following questions: Which student is involved in the most
study groups with the others? Which student has only one study group in common with
the others? How many study groups does Laura have in common with the others?
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a. We draw five vertices (in any configuration we wish) to represent the five students, and
connect vertices with edges according to the table.
b. The vertex corresponding to Amber is connected to more edges than the others, so she is
involved with more study groups (three) than the others. Kayla is the only student with
one study group in common, as her vertex is the only one connected to just one edge.
Laura’s vertex is connected to two edges, so she shares two study groups with the others.
The table below lists five mobile phone companies and indicates whether they have
agreements to roam onto each other’s networks. Draw a graph that represents this information,
where each vertex represents a phone company and an edge connects two vertices if the
corresponding companies have a roaming agreement. Then use the graph to answer the
questions:
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TalkMore No - Yes No No
a. Which phone company has roaming agreements with the most carriers?
b. Which company can roam with only one other network?
a. The vertex corresponding to SuperCell is connected to more edges than the others,
so SuperCell has roaming agreements with the most carriers.
b. TalkMore can roam with only one network because the corresponding vertex is
connected to only one edge.
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In general, graphs can contain vertices that are not connected to any edges, two or more
edges that connect the same vertices (called multiple edges), or edges that loop back to the
same vertex. We will usually deal with connected graphs, graphs in which any vertex can be
reached from any other vertex by tracing along edges. (Essentially, the graph consists of only one
“piece.”) Several examples of graphs are shown below.
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Euler Circuits
To solve the Konigsberg bridges problem presented earlier, we can represent the arrangement of
land areas and bridges with a graph. Let each land area be represented by a vertex, and connect
two vertices if there is a bridge spanning the corresponding land area.
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In terms of a graph, the original problem can be stated as follows: Can we start at any
vertex, move through each edge once (but not more than once), and return to the starting vertex?
Again, try it with pencil and paper. Every attempt seems to end in failure.
Before we can now examine how Euler proved this task impossible, we need to establish
some terminology. A path in a graph can be thought of as a movement from one vertex to
another by traversing edges. We can refer to our movement by vertex letters. For example, in the
given graph, one path could be A-B-C-E.
If a path ends at the same vertex at which it started, it is considered a closed path or
circuit. The path A-D-F-G-E-B-A is a circuit because it begins and ends at the same vertex
while the path A-D-F-G-E-H is not a circuit, as it does not begin and end at the same vertex.
Definition 2
A circuit that uses every edge, but never uses the same edge twice, is
called an Euler Circuit. (The path may cross through vertices more than
once.)
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All of this relates to the Konigsberg bridges problem in the following way: Finding a path
that crosses each bridge exactly once and returns to the starting point is equivalent to finding an
Euler Circuit for the Konigsberg bridge.
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a. Vertices C and D are of odd degree, hence the graph does not have an Eulerian Circuit.
(See reminders)
b. All vertices are of even degree hence the graph has an Euler Circuit.
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Determine whether the graph shown below is Eulerian. If it is, find an Euler Circuit. If it is
not, explain how you know. The number beside each vertex indicates the degree of the vertex.
Each vertex has a degree 2, 4, or 6, so the graph is Eulerian. There are many possible Euler
circuits in this graph. We do not have a formal method of locating one, so we just use trial and
error. If we label the vertices as shown below, one Euler Circuit is B-A-F- B-E-F-G-E-D-G-
B-D-C-B.
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An Application of Euler
Example
5 Circuits
The subway map below shows the tracks that subway trains traverse as well as the junctions
where one can switch trains. Suppose an inspector needs to travel the full length of each track. It
is possible to plan a journey that traverses the tracks and returns to the starting point without
traveling through any portion of a track more than once?
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We can consider the subway map a graph, with a vertex at each junction. An edge represents a
track that runs between two junctions. In order to find a travel route that does not traverse the
same track twice, we need to find an Euler circuit in the graph. Note, however that the vertex
representing the Civic Center junction has degree 3. Because a vertex has an odd degree, the
graph cannot be Eulerian.
Definition 2
An Euler path is a path that uses every edge of a graph exactly once.
An Euler path starts and ends at different vertices.
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Illustration 5
The path D-C-B-D-E-F-B-A-D-F-A-E is an Euler Path. The path begins and ends at the
different vertices but passes through all edges exactly once.
An Application of Euler
Example 6
Path
The floor plan of an art gallery is pictured below. Draw a graph that represents the floor plan,
where vertices correspond to rooms and edges correspond to doorways. Is it possible to take a
stroll that passes through every doorway without going through the same doorway twice?
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We can represent the floor plan by a graph if we let a vertex represent each room. Draw
an edge between two vertices if there is a doorway between the two rooms, as shown below.
If we would like to tour the gallery and pass through every doorway once, we must find a path
in our graph that uses every edge once (and no more). Thus we are looking for an Euler Path. We
can pass through all doorway by following such path: C-B-F-B-A-F-E-D-C-F-D. (Trial and error)
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Activity 6.2.
1. Transportation. An “X” in the table below indicates a direct route between the
corresponding cities. Draw a graph that represents this information, in which each vertex
represents a city and an edge connects two vertices if there is a direct route between the
corresponding cities. [10 points]
Davao --- X X
Cebu --- X X X
Baguio X --- X X X
Leyte X X ---
Surigao X X X --- X
Manila X X X ---
2. A floor plan of the museum is given below. Draw a graph that represents the floor plan,
where each vertex represents a room and an edge connects two vertices if there is a
doorway between two rooms. Is it possible to walk through the museum and pass through
each doorway without going through any doorway twice? Does it depend on whether you
return to the room you started at? Justify your conclusions. [10 points each]
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a.
b.
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Closure
Congratulations! I hope that you enjoyed our basic concepts in graphs. The next lesson
will help us understand the concept of scheduling and how it will be applied in real world
situations.
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Lesson 2
Learning Outcomes: This lesson enables the student to understand the concept of graph
coloring and scheduling.
Time Frame: Self-paced Learning
Introduction
In the mid-1800s, Francus Guthrie was trying to color a map of the countries of England. So that
it would be easy to distinguish the countries, he wanted countries sharing a common border to
have different colors. After several attempts, he noticed that four colors were required to color
the map, but not more. This observation became known as the four-color problem. (It was not
proved until over 100 years later.)
Here is the map of the contiguous states of the United States colored similarly. Note that
the map has only four colors and that no two states that share a common border have the same
color,
There is a connection between coloring maps and graph theory. This connection has
many practical applications, from scheduling tasks, to designing computers, to playing Sudoku.
Later in this lesson we will look more closely at some of these applications.
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Activity 6.2.1. Suppose the map in Illustration 1 shows the countries, labeled as letters, of a
continent. We will assume that no country is split into more than one piece and countries that
touch at just a corner point will not be considered neighbors. Can you color the given map such
that no two neighboring countries share the same color?
Illustration 1
We can represent each country by a vertex, placed anywhere within the boundary of that
country. We will then connect two vertices with an edge if the two corresponding countries are
neighbors – that is, if they share a common boundary. The result is shown below.
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Figure A Figure B
If we erase the boundaries of the countries, we are left with the graph in Figure B. Our
map-coloring question then becomes: Can we give each vertex of the graph a color such that no
two vertices connected by an edge share the same color?
How many different colors will be required? If this can be accomplished using four
colors, for instance, we will say that the graph is 4-colorable. The graph in Figure B is actually
3-colorable; only three colors are necessary. One possible coloring is given in the illustration
below.
Illustration 2
Figure C Figure D
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The fictional map shows the boundaries of countries on a rectangular continent. Represent the
map as a graph, and find a coloring of the graph using the fewest possible number of colors.
Then color the map according to the graph coloring.
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Illustration 3
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
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Definition 1
In general, there is no efficient method of finding the chromatic number of a graph, but we do
have a theorem that can tell us whether a graph is 2-colorable.
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Note that the graph contains circuits such as A-Y-C-Z-B-X-A with six vertices and A-Y- B-X-A
with four vertices. It seems that any circuit we find, in fact, involves an even number of vertices.
It is difficult to determine whether we have looked at all possible circuits, but our observations
suggest that the graph may be 2-colorable. A little trial and error confirm this if we simply color
vertices A, B, and C one color and the remaining vertices another. Hence, the given graph has a
chromatic number of 2.
A Scheduling Application of
Example
2 Graph Coloring
Eight different school clubs want to schedule meetings on the last day of the semester. Some
club members, however, belong to more than one of these clubs, so clubs that share members
cannot meet at the same time. How many different time slots are required so that all members
can attend all meetings? Clubs that have a member in common are indicated with an “X” in the
given table.
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Ski Club - X X X X
Student
gov’t
X - X X X
Debate
Club
X - X X X
Honor
Society
X X X - X X
Student
Newspaper X X - X X
Community
Outreach
X X X - X X
Campus
Democrats
X X X -
Campus
Republicans X X X -
A Scheduling Application of
Solution
Graph Coloring
We can represent the given information by a graph. Each club is represented by a vertex,
and an edge connects two vertices if the corresponding clubs have at least one common member.
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Two clubs that are connected by an edge cannot meet simultaneously. If we let a color
correspond to a time slot, then we need to dins a coloring of the graph that uses the fewest
possible number of colors. The graph is not 2-colorable, because we can find circuits of odd
length. However, by trial and error, we can find a 3-coloring. One example is chow below. Thus,
the chromatic number of the graph is 3, so we need three different time slots.
A Scheduling Application of
Example 3
Graph Coloring
Five classes at an elementary school have arranged a tour at a zoo where students get to feed the animals.
Class 1 wans to feed the elephants, giraffes, and hippos. Class 2
wants to feed the monkeys, rhinos, and elephants. Class 3 wants to
feed the monkeys, deer, and sea lions.
Class 4 wants to feed the parrots, giraffes, and polar bears. Class 5
wans to feed the sea lions, hippos, and polar bears.
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If the zoo allows animals to be fed only once a day by one class of students, can the tour be accomplished
in two days? (Assume that each class will visit the zoo only on one day.) If not, how many days will be
required?
A Scheduling Application of
Solution
Graph Coloring
No animal is misted more than twice in the tour list, so you may be tempted to say that only two days will
be required. However, to get a better picture of the problem, we can represent the situation with a graph.
Use a vertex to represent each class, and connect two vertices with an edge if the corresponding classes
want to feed the same animal. Then we can try to find a 2- coloring of the graph, where a different color
represents a different day at the zoo.
Note that the graph contains a circuit, 1-4-5-1, consisting of three vertices. This circuit will require three
colors, and the remaining vertices will not require additional colors. So, the chromatic number of the
graph is 3; one possible coloring is given below. Using this coloring, three days are required at the zoo.
On the first day classes 2 and 5, represented by the blue vertices, will visit the zoo; on the second day
classes 1 and 3, represented by the red vertices, will visit the zoo; and on the third day class 4 represented
by the green vertex, will visit the zoo.
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Have you ever watched the cycles that traffic lights go through while you were waiting for a red
light to turn green? Some intersections have lights that go through several stages to allow all the
different lanes of traffic to proceed safely.
Ideally, each stage of a traffic-light cycle should allow as many lanes of traffic to proceed
through the intersection as possible. We can design a traffic-light cycle by modeling an
intersection with a graph. The illustration below shows a three-way intersection where two two-
way roads meet. Each direction of traffic has turn lanes, with left-turn lights where possible.
There are six different directions in which vehicles can travel, as indicated in the illustration, and
we have labeled each possibility with a letter.
Illustration 4
We can represent the traffic patterns with a graph; each vertex will represent one of the
six possible traffic paths, and we will draw an edge between two vertices if the corresponding
paths would allow vehicles to collide. The result is the graph shown in the illustration above.
Because we do not allow vehicles to travel simultaneously along routes on which they could
collide, any vehicles connected by an edge can allow traffic to move only during different parts
of the light cycle. We can represent each portion of the cycle by a color. Our job then is to color
the graph using the fewest colors possible.
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Illustration 5
A 3-coloring of the graph means that the traffic lights at the intersection will have to go through
a three-stage cycle. One stage will allow the traffic routes corresponding to the red vertices to proceed,
the next stage will let the paths corresponding to the blue vertices to proceed, and finally the third stage
will let path E, colored green, to proceed.
Although safety requires three stages for the lights, we can refine the design to allow more traffic
to travel through the intersection. Note that ay the third stage, only one route, path E, is scheduled to be
moving. However, there is no harm in allowing path B to move at the same time, since it is a right turn
that doesn’t conflict with route E. we could also allow path F to proceed at the same time. Adding these
additional paths corresponds to adding colors to the graph in Illustration 5. We do not want to use more
than three colors, but we can add a second color to some of the vertices while maintaining the
requirement that no edge can connect two vertices of the same color. The result is shown in the
illustration below. Notice that the vertices in the triangular circuit A-D-E-A can be assigned only a
single color, but the remaining vertices can
accommodate two colors.
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Activity 6.2.2
1. A one-way road ends at a two-way street. The intersection and the different possible
traffic routes are shown in the figure below. The one-way road has a left- turn light.
Represent the traffic routes with a graph and use graph coloring to determine the
minimum number of stages required for a light cycle. [30 points]
2. A one-way road intersects a two-way road in a four-way intersection. Each direction has
turn lanes and left-turn lights. Represent the various routes with a graph and use graph
coloring to determine the minimum number of stages required for a light cycle. Then
refine your design to allow as much traffic as possible to proceed at each stage of the
cycle. [20 points]
Activity 6.2.3
1. Represent the map of Mindanao by a graph and find a coloring of the graph that uses
the fewest possible number of colors. Then color the map according to the graph coloring
you found. [50 points]
2. Represent the map of Davao City by a graph and find a coloring of the graph that uses
the fewest possible number of colors. Then color the map according to the graph coloring
you found. [50 points]
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Closure
The lesson discussed was about graph coloring and scheduling which is an application
of the basic concepts learned in lesson 1.
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References
Aufman, R. N., Lockwood, J. S., Nation, R. D., & Clegg, D. K. (2013). Mathematical
Excursions (3rd ed.). Belmont: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning.
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