The rectangular chocolate bar is divided by indentations into 24 small rectangles.

The rectangular chocolate bar is divided by indentations into 24 small rectangles. How many times will Dima have to break the chocolate in order to divide it into these small pieces.

This problem can be solved using the formula n – 1, where n is the number of parts to be divided into. That is, 24 – 1 = 23.

To check, let’s imagine a chocolate bar with 4 slices horizontally and 6 slices vertically. First, we divide the chocolate into 4 parts by vertical breaks, so we get 3 breaks. Now each part is divided into 6 parts, 5 faults each.

Total: 3 + 4 * 5 = 23.

Answer: Dima will have to break the chocolate 23 times to split it into 24 pieces.