THE JOINER'S PROBLEM.
(
Various Dissection Puzzles)
I have often had occasion to remark on the practical utility of puzzles,
arising out of an application to the ordinary affairs of life of the
little tricks and "wrinkles" that we learn while solving recreation
problems.
The joiner, in the illustration, wants to cut the piece of wood into as
few pieces as possible to form a square table-top, without any waste of
material. How should he go to work? How many pieces would you require?
Answer:
Nothing could be easier than the solution of this puzzle--when you know
how to do it. And yet it is apt to perplex the novice a good deal if he
wants to do it in the fewest possible pieces--three. All you have to do
is to find the point A, midway between B and C, and then cut from A to D
and from A to E. The three pieces then form a square in the manner
shown. Of course, the proportions of the original figure must be
correct; thus the triangle BEF is just a quarter of the square BCDF.
Draw lines from B to D and from C to F and this will be clear.
