108 Geometrical Problemsdiagram), he held that E and C and also Band F meet at a "mathematical
point," and are therefore in contact. But he was wrong, for if E touches C a
barrier is set up between Band F. If B touches F, then E cannot touch C. It
is a subtle fallacy that I know will interest my readers. When we say that a
number of things meet at a point (like the spokes of a wheel) only three can
be in contact (each with each) on the same plane.
This has led me to propound a new "touching" problem. If five submarines,
sunk on the same day, all went down at the same spot where another had
previously been sunk, how might they all lie at rest so that everyone of the
six V-boats should touch every other one? To simplify we will say, place six
ordinary wooden matches so that every match shall touch every other match.
No bending or breaking allowed.
- ECONOMY IN STRING
Owing to the scarcity of string a
lady found herself in this dilemma.
In making up. a parcel for her son, a
prisoner in Germany, she was limited
to using twelve feet of string, exclu-
sive of knots, which passed round the
parcel once lengthways and twice
round its girth, as shown in the
illustration.
What was the largest rectangular
parcel that she could make up, subject
to these conditions?314. THE STONE PEDESTAL
In laying the base and cubic pedes- actually used. The base is only a single
tal for a certain public memorial, the block in depth.
stonemason used cubic blocks of
stone all measuring one foot on every
side. There was exactly the same num-
ber of these blocks (all uncut) in the
pedestal as in the square base on the
center of which it stood.
Look at the sketch and try to de-
termine the total number of blocks