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Module 7:

Euler Paths and Circuits

INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOME

At the end of the lesson, the students can:

A. Identify the vertices, edges, and loops of a graph

B. Identify the degree of a vertex
C. Identify and draw both a path and a circuit through a graph
D. Determine whether a graph is connected or disconnected
E. Determine whether a graph has an Euler path and/ or circuit

ENGAGE

Below shows a picture of a housing development. Pretend that you are the development’s lawn
inspector. As part of your job you have to walk down every street in the development making sure homeowners’
landscaping conforms to the community requirements.

Naturally, you want to minimize the amount of walking you will do. Discuss the route you are going to
take to minimize and to avoid backtracking.
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EXPLORE

To do the activity above, you need to simplify the picture into a form that is easier to work with. You can do that
by drawing a simple line for each street. Where streets intersect, we will place a dot.

You may name the dots to further ease your identification of routes to take.
Now Is it possible for you to walk down every street in this development without having to do any
backtracking? Discuss the routes you are going to take using the simplified picture above.

This type of simplified picture is called a graph.

EXPLAIN

GRAPHS
A graph consists of a set of dots, called vertices, and a set of edges connecting
pairs of vertices.

In graph theory, it is very important to keep in mind that a graph is determined only by its set of
vertices and set of edges. In other words, the only information we care about is which vertices are connected to
each other. For example, consider the following pair of graphs:
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The two diagrams represent the exact same graph. In geometry, they are different shapes (a
rectangle and a triangle). In graph theory, the geometry doesn't matter; only the connections are important.
Since they both include the same four vertices connected in the same way, they represent the same graph.

SOME DEFINITIONS

VERTEX
A vertex is a dot in the graph that could represent an intersection of streets, a land mass, or a general location,
like “work” or “school”. Vertices are often connected by edges.

EDGES
Edges connect pairs of vertices. An edge can represent a physical connection between locations, like a street, or
simply that a route connecting the two locations exists, like an airline flight.

KCC mall
Jollibee

edge

vertex Union bank

Lorna dress shop

ADZU
LOOP
A loop is a special type of edge that connects a vertex to itself. Loops are not used much in street network
graphs.

loop

DEGREE OF A VERTEX
The degree of a vertex is the number of edges meeting at that vertex. It is possible for a vertex to have a degree
of zero or larger.
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Degree 0 Degree 1 Degree 2 Degree 3 Degree 4

PATH
A path is a sequence of vertices using the edges. It can be seen as a trip from one vertex to another using the
edges of the graph. For example, a path from vertex A to vertex M is shown below. It is one of many possible
paths in this graph.

Path ABFGHM

CIRCUIT
A circuit is a path that begins and ends at the same vertex. A circuit starting and ending at vertex A is shown
below.

Circuit ABFGLKJEA ( note the path starts at A and ends at A)

LENGTH
The length of a path is the number of edges in the path. Since a circuit is a type of path, we define the length of
a circuit the same way. The figure below shows the path from A to M with a length of 5.

CONNECTED
A graph is connected if there is a path from any vertex to any other vertex. A graph that is not connected is
called disconnected
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Connected Graph Disconnected Graph

WEIGHTS
Depending upon the problem being solved, sometimes weights are assigned to the edges. The weights could
represent the distance between two locations, the travel time, or the travel cost.

Simple graph
A graph with no loops and no multiple edges.

Graph with Multiple edges

If two vertices are connected by more than one edge.

Euler Paths and Circuits

In 1735, Leonard Euler presented a solution to the problem known as the Seven Bridges of Königsberg. The city
of Königsberg, Prussia was set on the Pregel River, and included two large islands that were connected to each
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other and the mainland by seven bridges. The problem is to decide whether it is possible to follow a path that
crosses each bridge exactly once and returns to the starting point. It is not possible: there is no Eulerian circuit.

An Euler path is a path that uses every edge in a graph with no repeats. Being a path, it does not
have to return to the starting vertex.

An Euler circuit is a closed path that uses every edge in a graph with no repeats. Being a circuit, it
must start and end at the same vertex.

Example:

There are several Euler paths can be identified in this graph and one
of it is the is 4 3 0 2 1 0, and 0 2 1 0 3 4. However, 0 3 4 2 1 0 is not a
Euler circuit because there is no edge connecting 4 and 2.

One of the Euler circuit in this graph is 0 2 1 0 3 4 0 because we start

at vertex 0 then passing all the edges and ends at vertex 0 .
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What if the graph look like very complicated? Just like the graph below. How are we going to know if it
has an Euler path or circuits?

This is where we can use the Euler’s path and Circuit Theorems

Euler's Path and Circuit Theorems

 A graph in which all vertices have even degree (that is, there are no odd vertices) will
contain an Euler circuit.
 A graph with exactly two vertices of odd degree will contain an Euler path, but not an Euler
circuit.
 A graph with any number of odd vertices other than zero or two will not have any Euler
path.

This graph has all vertices in even degree

therefore it will contain an Euler circuit

In this graph, vertex 3 and vertex 1 has an odd degree

( vertex 3 has 3 edges, and vertex 1 has 1 edge). Since this
graph has exactly two vertices with odd degree, therefore
this graph has an Euler path but no Euler circuit
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In this graph, vertices 3,2,1,and 5 has odd degree . Since

the graph has more than two vertices of odd degree,
therefore it has no Euler path nor Euler circuit.

ELABORATE

A. The graph below shows 5 cities. The weights on the edges represent the airfare for a one-way flight
between the cities.

a) How many vertices and edges does the graph have?

b) Is the graph connected?
c) What is the degree of the vertex representing LA?
d) If you fly from Seattle to Dallas to Atlanta, is that a path? Is it a circuit? If it is a path or circuit, what is its
length?
e) If you fly from LA to Chicago to Dallas to LA, is that a path? Is it a circuit? If it is a path or circuit, what is
its length?

Solution:
a) The graph has 5 vertices and 10 edges.
b) Yes.
c) degree 4
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d) If you fly from Seattle to Dallas to Atlanta, it is a path and not a circuit. Its length is 2.
e) If you fly from LA to Chicago to Dallas to LA, it is a path and also a circuit. Its length is 3.

B. In the graph below, identify if there is an Euler path and name one.

Solution: In the graph shown below, there are several Euler paths. One such path is CABDCB. The path is shown
in arrows, with the order of edges numbered.

Euler path is CABDCB

Another Euler path is BACDBC and
CBACDB

Take note!!!!!!!!!
When you identify the path do not REPEAT THE EDGES. For example path ACBDCAB THIS IS WRONG!
Because you pass the edge AC twice ------ ACBDCAB.

C. In the graph below, identify if there is an Euler circuit and name one.
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Solution: Yes there is its Euler circuit B C D E E A B

EVALUATE

A. Refer to the graph below to answer the following questions

a) How many vertices and edges does the graph have?

b) Is the graph connected?
c) What is the degree of the vertex a ?
d) If you travel from point d to b and to e , is that a path? Is it a circuit? If it is a path or circuit, what is its
length?

b. Identify if the following graphs is an Eulerian ( has Euler path or Euler circuit) or not. If it is an Eulerian identify
one Euler circuit , if there is none, identify one Euler path. If it is NOT an Eulerian graph discuss why.

1.
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REFERENCES

Mathematics in the Modern World (2018), Rex Book Store Inc.

https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wmopen-mathforliberalarts/chapter/introduction-graph-theory/