174.--THE SQUARES OF BROCADE.

From Amusements in Mathematics by Henry Ernest Dudeney.

[Illustration: Diagram 1]

So far as I have been able to discover, there is only one possible solution to fulfil the conditions. The pieces fit together as in Diagram 1, Diagrams 2 and 3 showing how the two original squares are to be cut. It will be seen that the pieces A and C have each twenty chequers, and are therefore of equal area. Diagram 4 (built up with the dissected square No. 5) solves the puzzle, except for the small condition contained in the words, "I cut the _two_ squares in the manner desired." In this case the smaller square is preserved intact. Still I give it as an illustration of a feature of the puzzle. It is impossible in a problem of this kind to give a _quarter-turn_ to any of the pieces if the pattern is to properly match, but (as in the case of F, in Diagram 4) we may give a symmetrical piece a _half-turn_--that is, turn it upside down. Whether or not a piece may be given a quarter-turn, a half-turn, or no turn at all in these chequered problems, depends on the character of the design, on the material employed, and also on the form of the piece itself.

[Illustration: Diagram 2]

[Illustration: Diagram 3]

[Illustration: Diagram 4]

[Illustration: Diagram 5]

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174.--THE SQUARES OF BROCADE.: Amusements in Mathematics by Henry Ernest Dudeney | amphi