Monday, October 12, 2009
A Simple but Hard Problem
In geometry, a simple perfect square is a square that has been divided into smaller squares, no two of which are the same size and none of which form a rectangle inside the square. This sounds like a simple thing to do. When I first heard of simple perfect squares, I thought I could probably find one in a few minutes if I tried. I was wrong.
Here is a picture of the simple perfect square with the fewest divisions.
The original square has been divided into 21 smaller ones. Can you find one that uses fewer than 21?
Here is a picture of the simple perfect square with the fewest divisions.
The original square has been divided into 21 smaller ones. Can you find one that uses fewer than 21?
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