At Mad Physics we generally specialize in answering random science questions and blowing things up along the way. Today, though, we have a purely digital problem, no lab involved! When someone sent us this problem we thought it was good fun, but when we got the answer we got an idea. We decided to be evil and test you first!
Here is the problem:
In the figure (below) there are two triangles made up of four shapes. The shapes are constant (they do not change between figures). Since they have the exact same surface area, why does one triangle have a one square gap?
Look at the diagram carefully what is wrong? The grid is there to help you.
For hints and answers scroll down (don?'t worry they are hidden at first).
Got it? How long did it take you? Our record is <30 seconds! Let us know your time.
To view the hints simply highlight them. The font color is currently white!
Hint One (subtle): Think of it as if it where are graph? y=mx+b
Hint Two (more obvious): How about the slope, hmmm.
Do you give up?
Answer: The second image is an illusion, it is not a proper triangle because it does not have a a straight hypotenuse.
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Family, Afrooz. “Triangle Brain Twister.” May 23, 2005 Mad Physics. dd mmm. yyyy †
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† In the bibliography you must insert the day you visited the site (this is relevant because the site could change at some point), therefore, in the bibliography above replace dd with the day you visited, mmm with the abreviated month, and yyyy with the year (ex: dd mmm. yyyy becomes 23 Dec. 2004).
