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Re: variation on a familiar calculus problem
Posted:
May 3, 2012 3:16 PM
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For odd N we can simply state that one side is perpendicular to the wall.
Bob Hansen
On May 3, 2012, at 12:53 PM, Wayne Bishop wrote:
> Your question has an easy and obvious answer, it lacks symmetry; n-gons, for even n only, can safely be assumed. Taking n=4 only, as a heuristic argument, maybe shaky but with n=6, and maybe, n=8, I find it very persuasive. The three-dimensional bubble analogue is also very nice.
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> Wayne
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> At 07:23 AM 5/3/2012, Joe Niederberger wrote:
>> >The problem could have said 2 sides in which case you would arrive at a right isosceles triangle which when added to its mirror image would be a square (with the wall running across its diagonal)
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>> Why would one not start then with a equilateral triangle and half that?
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>> Anyway, I'm not questioning your instincts. However, I think the type of reasoning I'm outlining works without one even knowing about the special properties of circles and squares in advance.
>>
>> Joe N.
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