176.--LINOLEUM CUTTING.

From Amusements in Mathematics by Henry Ernest Dudeney.

There is only one solution that will enable us to retain the larger of the two pieces with as little as possible cut from it. Fig. 1 in the following diagram shows how the smaller piece is to be cut, and Fig. 2 how we should dissect the larger piece, while in Fig. 3 we have the new square 10 × 10 formed by the four pieces with all the chequers properly matched. It will be seen that the piece D contains fifty-two chequers, and this is the largest piece that it is possible to preserve under the conditions.

[Illustration]

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176.--LINOLEUM CUTTING.: Amusements in Mathematics by Henry Ernest Dudeney | amphi