Clues for the third puzzle

You can find the sizes of the remaining squares.

Note that you can find the size of the orange square once you've got x, y, and 3x + y, since the four squares have a common sideline. Underneath the line there are two squares of sides x and 3x + y, so the line has length 4x + y. So far, above the line there is a square of side y, so the orange square must have side 4x.

(3x + y) + x - y = 4x

You can then write down expressions for the sides of the remaining two squares.

  x + 2y
y x + y
   
3x + y x
2x + y

Then what? How do you determine what x and y are?

See the answer.

Back to Puzzle 3.

1999. This page may be printed for classroom use.
David E. Joyce

Department of Mathematics and Computer Science
Clark University
Worcester, MA 01610

The address of this file is http://aleph0.clarku.edu/~djoye/puzzles/square1.html