It's not hard to wrap a box if you don't care how much wrapping paper or tape you use, but what if you care about efficiency? What if your aim is to use only what you need?
Mathematician Sara Santos, who specializes in finding entertaining ways to popularize math, worked out the formula for a wrap that uses paper and tape most efficiently. If you have a three dimensional box you can solve for the dimensions of the two dimensional square of paper that makes for the best wrap.
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