Nonplanarity by edge counts 2026-10-14
The complete graph has and , exceeding the planar graph edge bound . Therefore it is not a planar graph. The complete bipartite graph has and . The general bound allows twelve edges, but the bipartite planar graph edge bound allows only eight, proving nonplanarity.
Actual plane-graph face counts compared with impossible face counts for the two complete-graph obstructions
. Details. These are necessary bounds, not a complete planarity test. For an original counterexample, subdivide every edge of once. The resulting simple graph is a connected graph with , , and is bipartite: put all original vertices in one part and all nine new vertices in the other. Both inequalities hold, and . Nevertheless, a crossing-free graph drawing would let us trace each two-edge graph path as one curve, producing an impossible embedding of . The graph subdivision preserves this obstruction. Kuratowski's theorem supplies a stronger characterization than these counts.
