Kruskal’s Algorithm Minimal Spanning Tree: Railroad Table

This project was created by Sheryl Hsu for exhibit at the Almaden Quicksilver Mine and sponsored by MathHappens Foundation.  Sheryl wrote us a detailed proposal that described her project, the mathematics she planned to explain and the details of construction.  You can read it here.   Then she built it!  See Sheryl’s video where she explains the exhibit!

Sheryl’s project is on the minimal spanning tree problem which is a classical graph theory problem that asks for the shortest length of edges that are needed to connect all nodes in a graph. It has many applications in optimization and networking.  She presented the display to visitors at the Play Like a Miner Exhibit on July 9, 2022.  We can see from the photos that the visitors really enjoyed her exhibit and presentation.

This is a wonderful example of a mathematics concept explained with an exhibit or display and integrated into the program at a museum.   Congratulations Sheryl!