John 3:16

“For God so loved the world, that he

gave his only Son Jesus, that whoever
believes in him should not die but have
eternal life.”

“For God so loved ___Jerome____, that

he gave his only Son Jesus, that
whoever believes in him should not die
but have eternal life.”
Learning Outcomes:
At the end of this section, the students are expected to:

1. understand the concept of graph coloring;

2. solve problems using graph coloring.
Here is a map of the
contiguous states of
the United States.
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 section we will look more closely

at some of these applications.
Suppose the map in
Figure 7.4.1 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. Figure 7.4.1
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,
i.e., if they share a common
boundary. The result is
shown in Figure 7.4.2. Figure 7.4.2
If we erase the boundaries
of the countries, we are
left with the graph in
Figure 7.4.3. The resulting
graph will always be a
planar graph, because the
edges simply connect
neighboring countries.

Figure 7.4.3
Figure 7.4.3
Figure 7.4.3
One possible coloring is given in Figure 7.4.4.

Figure 7.4.4
A colored map for Figure 7.4.1 based on the colors of
the vertices of the graph is in Figure 7.4.5.

Figure 7.4.1 Figure 7.4.5

We can now formally state the four-color theorem.

Example 7.4.1 The fictional map below 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.
First draw a vertex in each country and then
connect two vertices with an edge if the
corresponding countries are neighbors.
Now try to color the vertices of the resulting graph
so that no edge connects two vertices of the same
color. We know we will need at least two colors, so
one strategy is simply to pick a starting vertex, give
it a color, and then assign colors to the connected
vertices one by one.
Try to reuse the same colors and use a new color
only when there is no other option. For this graph
we will need four colors. (The four-color theorem
guarantees that we will not need more than that.)
To see why we will need four colors, notice that the one
vertex colored green in the following figure connects to a
ring of five vertices.

Three different colors are required to color the five-vertex

ring, and the green vertex connects to all these, so it
requires a fourth color.
Now we color each country the same color as the
corresponding vertex.
We mentioned previously that representing a map
as a graph always results in a planar graph. The
four-color theorem guarantees that we need only
four colors to color a planar graph; however, if we
wish to color a nonplanar graph, we may need
more than four colors.

Definition 7.4.2 The minimum number of

colors needed to color a graph so that no edge
connects vertices of the same color is called
the chromatic number of the graph.
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.
Example 7.4.2 Find the chromatic number of following
Utilities Graph.
Example 7.4.2 Find the chromatic number of following
Utilities Graph.
Determining the chromatic number of a graph and
finding a corresponding coloring of the graph can solve
a wide assortment of practical problems. One common
application is in scheduling meetings or events. This is
best shown by example.
Determining the chromatic number of a graph and
finding a corresponding coloring of the graph can solve
a wide assortment of practical problems. One common
application is in scheduling meetings or events. This is
best shown by example.
Example 7.4.3 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 table below.
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.
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
find a coloring of the graph that uses the fewest possible
number of colors.
Each color corresponds to a time slot, and so, one
scheduling is as follows.

First time slot: ski club, debate club, student

newspaper

Second time slot: student government, community

outreach

Third time slot: honor society, campus Democrats,

campus Republicans
Exercise Set 7.4

1. A researcher has discovered six new species of insects overseas

and needs to transport them home. Some species will harm each other
and so cannot be transported in the same container.
Species A cannot be housed with species C or F.
Species B cannot be housed with species D or F.
Species C cannot be housed with species A, D or E.
Species D cannot be housed with species B, C or F.
Species E cannot be housed with species C or F.
Species F cannot be housed with species A, B, D or E.
Draw a graph where each vertex represents a species of insect and an
edge connects two vertices if the species cannot be housed together.
Then use graph coloring to determine the minimum number of
containers the researcher will need to transport the insects.
2. Eight political committees must meet on the same day, but some members
are on more than one committee. Thus, any committees that have members in
common cannot meet at the same time. An “X” in the following table indicates
that the two corresponding committees share a member. Use graph coloring to
determine the minimum number of meeting times that will be necessary so that
all members can attend the appropriate meetings.

Appropriations Budget Finance Judiciary Education Health Foreign Housing

Affairs
Appropriations X X X

Budget X X

Finance X X X X

Judiciary X X X X

Eduacation X X

Health X X X

Foreign Affairs X X X

Housing X X X
REFERENCES
1. Aufmann, R.N.(2018). Mathematics in the Modern World. Rex Book
Store, Inc.
2. Rosen, K. (2011). Discrete Mathematics and its Applications, Seventh
Edition. The McGraw Hill Companies.
3. Bondy, J. (1976). Graph Theory and with Applications. North Holland
Publishing Corporation.
4. Daligdig, R.M. (2019). Mathematics in the Modern World. Lorimar
Publishing, Inc.
5. Carpio, J.N. and Peralta, B.D. (2018). Mathematics in the Modern World.
Books Atbp. Publishing Corp.
6. Olejan, R.O., Veloria, E.V., Bonghanoy, G.B., Ondaro, J.E.,and
Sumalinog, J.D. (2018). Mathematics in the Modern World. MUTYA
Publishing House, Inc.
7. Manlulu, E.A. and Hipolito, L.M. (2019). A Course Module for
Mathematics in the Modern World. Rex Book Store, Inc.