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Imagine you have toothpicks layed out like this:

__ __ __
|__ |__|__|__
............|__|__|

Now only moving two toothpicks, how can you create 4 equal boxes. You can only move two toothpicks, and they cant lay on top of each other, ect. (NOTE: The periods are just so that everything lines up. There have nothing to do with the problem)

After about half an hour working on this, I came up with something, but i think it would count as laying them on top of them. Anyone else come up with something I'm not seeing?

NOTE: This is just a for fun thing, my teacher gave us to work on over the weekend, not for homework or test. Thanks everyone.

2007-09-06 08:39:52 · 2 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics Mathematics

2 answers

Label the vertices left to right along the top A, B, C, D, along the next horizontal row E, F, G, H, I, and along the bottom row J, K, L.
Move BC and place it vertically below F.
Move JK and place it horizontally left of J.
You then have four boxes touching each other only at the corners. Hence 16 toothpicks make 4 boxes.

2007-09-06 09:01:52 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

.__ ,,,,, __
|__ |__|__|__
......|__|.....|__|

2007-09-06 08:51:50 · answer #2 · answered by Demiurge42 7 · 0 0

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