Math enthusiasts, get ready to test your problem-solving skills. Today's puzzles come from none other than the renowned UK math writer, Ian Stewart.
The challenge begins with a square grid that has three of its corner cells missing. The puzzle is to cover this 33-cell grid using 11 tiles, each made of three cells in a line. But can you do it? If so, how? And if not, why won't it work?
Next up is a geometry puzzle that will put your spatial reasoning skills to the test. A certain shape can be cut into four identical pieces along its black lines, which can then be rearranged to form another shape entirely. But wait – there's more! Is there an alternative way to cut this left-hand shape into those identical pieces?
Now, let's talk about pizza distribution. Three pizzas are divided among five people in two different ways: either three people get 3/5 of a slice each and two others split a 2/5 and a 1/5 respectively, or each person gets three equal slices from each pizza. The question is – what's the minimum number of pieces needed to divide the pizzas equally among all five?
Can you solve these puzzling puzzles? Ian Stewart will be back with the answers at 5 pm UK time today, so don't even think about cheating! And for math enthusiasts, a fun side note: Ian Stewart has recently released a book called "Reaching for the Extreme", which is full of mind-bending examples of superlatives – biggest, smallest, shortest, and more. The book is out on February 12 and can be pre-ordered at the Guardian Bookshop.
The challenge begins with a square grid that has three of its corner cells missing. The puzzle is to cover this 33-cell grid using 11 tiles, each made of three cells in a line. But can you do it? If so, how? And if not, why won't it work?
Next up is a geometry puzzle that will put your spatial reasoning skills to the test. A certain shape can be cut into four identical pieces along its black lines, which can then be rearranged to form another shape entirely. But wait – there's more! Is there an alternative way to cut this left-hand shape into those identical pieces?
Now, let's talk about pizza distribution. Three pizzas are divided among five people in two different ways: either three people get 3/5 of a slice each and two others split a 2/5 and a 1/5 respectively, or each person gets three equal slices from each pizza. The question is – what's the minimum number of pieces needed to divide the pizzas equally among all five?
Can you solve these puzzling puzzles? Ian Stewart will be back with the answers at 5 pm UK time today, so don't even think about cheating! And for math enthusiasts, a fun side note: Ian Stewart has recently released a book called "Reaching for the Extreme", which is full of mind-bending examples of superlatives – biggest, smallest, shortest, and more. The book is out on February 12 and can be pre-ordered at the Guardian Bookshop.
!! i love a good brain teaser but this one has me stumped lol what if u cant cover the grid with 11 tiles 
or how many ways can u cut that left-hand shape into identical pieces 
?? and then theres this pizza thing... like who would even think of dividing pizzas into slices 
i guess ill just have to wait till ians video comes out at 5 pm uk time today 
Ian Stewart is like the ultimate math genius 
! I'm literally shaking with excitement thinking about those puzzles 
! The grid thingy seems kinda hard but I trust Ian's brainpower 
, he'll figure it out for sure 
and I'm SO here for his new book "Reaching for the Extreme" 
, pre-ordered it already 
! 5 pm UK time, bring it on 
!
. And then there's this geometry puzzle where you gotta cut a shape into identical pieces... because, of course, math problems always require you to be a genius 
Minimum number of pieces needed? How about the number of slices I want to have? 
. It might take some trial and error, but I'm confident you can figure it out! 
. Cutting that left-hand shape into identical pieces... hmm, thinkin' outside the box here 
. I think the answer's out there... gotta crunch some numbers 
! The square grid one looks sooo hard 
, but I'm determined to figure it out 
, you know? So, I'm gonna try to break down these puzzles into some simple diagrams... 
. If we fill in those gaps, it's basically a 6x6 grid 
. Now, imagine dividing this into 11 "units" - each unit is like a row or column. We can draw a diagram to visualize how these units fit together: 
! If we draw a diagram of the original shape and the resulting pieces... 
. The constraints seem relatively straightforward, but the solution may require some innovative problem-solving strategies 
. This raises questions about symmetry and tessellations – are there any mathematical principles that can be applied to solve this problem? 
Still, I suppose it's all in good fun... as long as Ian Stewart doesn't make me use that fancy math stuff 
. Bring it on, Ian Stewart!
I need some serious math juice to solve this one... 
it's been dead for ages lol anyway what really caught me was that pizza distribution puzzle - i mean who doesn't love pizza? 
. By the way, has anyone else tried those brain teasers that are all about words playing with numbers?