Problem of the Week

February 27 to March 3

This Week's Problem

"Yo. Just got back from Tennessee, and my aunt gave me this problem," announced Speech, as he arrived in geometry class.

"Is this as tough as the last one?" asked Headliner.

"Dunno, man. But it's pretty open-ended. Here's how it goes: How many ways can you construct an isosceles triangle?"

"That's it?" protested Headliner. "Can't be that hard if it doesn't ask for something more specific."

"Yea, but it doesn't really tell you when you've reached the end of the problem, either," added Speech. "We don't know how many ways there could be."

"True," said Headliner. "But making us work out this general stuff ourselves, instead of asking a more specific question, is sort of like that saying...you know...give a man a fish and he eats for a day, or something like that."

"I don't think that's quite the way it goes," said Speech. "But let's just do the problem."

This Week's Solutions

We received solutions this week from the following students. They all did a great job, using The Geometer's Sketchpad and generally explaining their solutions well. These pages contain pictures of their sketches, as well as links to the sketches themselves.

Students from Mount St. Joseph's Academy, Flourtown, PA

Students from Shaler Area High School, Pittsburgh, PA
Annie Fetter
11 March 1995