Register Guidelines E-Books Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read

Go Back   MobileRead Forums > Miscellaneous > Lounge

Notices

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 08-05-2010, 05:35 PM   #1
pdurrant
The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠
pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
pdurrant's Avatar
 
Posts: 71,429
Karma: 305784726
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Norfolk, England
Device: Kindle Voyage
Carpet Cutting Puzzle

Time for another puzzle. I found this one at a puzzle site in the Netherlands. Despite having a Dutch web address, the site appears to be entirely in English.

Anyway, here's the puzzle:

I have a room that's 9 metres by 12 metres, and I'm going to have an 8 metre by one metre aquarium right in the middle of it (lengthways).

Quickly noticing that the area of open floor will be exactly 100 metres (9x12-8), I buy a 10 metre by 10 metre carpet that was going cheap on eBay. But how to cut it to fit the shape? I don't want to cut the carpet more than necessary. What's the smallest number of pieces I must cut the 10x10 metre carpet into, to make it fit the 12x9 space, with the 8x1 hole in the middle? Hint: It's less than four.

I've attached the picture of the situation take from the above web site.

Answers in
Spoiler:
spoiler tags
if possible, please.

I hope this non-verbal, non-numerical, non-logic puzzle will make a nice change.
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:	carpets.gif
Views:	676
Size:	4.7 KB
ID:	56233  

Last edited by pdurrant; 08-07-2010 at 03:11 PM. Reason: Removed unhelpful transparency from the picture. Added upper limit to number of pieces.
pdurrant is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-06-2010, 12:10 AM   #2
noonionclub
Junior Member
noonionclub is on a distinguished road
 
Posts: 5
Karma: 50
Join Date: Aug 2010
Device: Kindle 2
I'll take a shot at it.
Spoiler:
Well, my answer is 4 pieces of carpet.
A 1x8 piece
A 1x9 piece
A 1x1 piece
and a 10x9 piece with a 1x8 cut out from it to align with the aquarium so it kind of looks like the letter C.
Hopefully this makes sense.
noonionclub is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-06-2010, 03:20 AM   #3
pdurrant
The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠
pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
pdurrant's Avatar
 
Posts: 71,429
Karma: 305784726
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Norfolk, England
Device: Kindle Voyage
Quote:
Originally Posted by noonionclub View Post
I'll take a shot at it.
Spoiler:
Well, my answer is 4 pieces of carpet.
A 1x8 piece
A 1x9 piece
A 1x1 piece
and a 10x9 piece with a 1x8 cut out from it to align with the aquarium so it kind of looks like the letter C.
Hopefully this makes sense.
A good try, but there is a solution using far fewer pieces.
pdurrant is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-06-2010, 04:41 AM   #4
GeoffC
Chocolate Grasshopper ...
GeoffC ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.GeoffC ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.GeoffC ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.GeoffC ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.GeoffC ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.GeoffC ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.GeoffC ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.GeoffC ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.GeoffC ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.GeoffC ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.GeoffC ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
GeoffC's Avatar
 
Posts: 27,600
Karma: 20821184
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Scotland
Device: Muse HD , Cybook Gen3 , Pocketbook 302 (Black) , Nexus 10: wife has PW
noonionclub

Welcome to mobileread ....
GeoffC is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-06-2010, 08:32 AM   #5
clarknova
Addict
clarknova plays well with othersclarknova plays well with othersclarknova plays well with othersclarknova plays well with othersclarknova plays well with othersclarknova plays well with othersclarknova plays well with othersclarknova plays well with othersclarknova plays well with othersclarknova plays well with othersclarknova plays well with others
 
clarknova's Avatar
 
Posts: 241
Karma: 2617
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Greenwood, SC
Device: Kindle 2
Quote:
Originally Posted by pdurrant View Post
Quickly noticing that the area of open floor will be exactly 100 metres (9x12-8), I buy a 10 metre by 10 metre carpet that was going cheap on eBay. But how to cut it to fit the shape? I don't want to cut the carpet more than necessary. What's the smallest number of pieces I must cut the 10x10 metre carpet into, to make it fit the 12x9 space, with the 8x1 hole in the middle?
I'm no interior designer, but this is just awful. Besides having a carpet that's all cut up, the room has no space for any furniture. Though since there is a huge aquarium in the middle, it'd be an onerous task moving anything in besides a card table and some folding chairs.

Anyway:
Spoiler:

The smallest I can figure it to be is three cuts (four pieces):
1) Cut two 4x10 pieces, and then cut off a 1x2 piece from the remaining 2x10.

331111111111
331111111111
331111111111
331111111111
33________44
332222222222
332222222222
332222222222
332222222222

or

2) Cut off a 1x10 strip, cut a 1x1 square from the end of that strip, and then cut out a 1x8 strip from the middle of the remaining 9x10 square.

143333333333
143333333333
143333333333
143333333333
14________33
143333333333
143333333333
143333333333
123333333333

I can't imagine doing it in 2 cuts, but I'll keep trying.
clarknova is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-06-2010, 12:31 PM   #6
obs20
Wizard
obs20 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.obs20 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.obs20 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.obs20 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.obs20 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.obs20 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.obs20 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.obs20 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.obs20 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.obs20 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.obs20 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
obs20's Avatar
 
Posts: 2,782
Karma: 29028512
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Florida
Device: Sony PRS 600, Nook ST, Toshiba Excite 10.1 AT 300
Try this:

Spoiler:
Three cuts.
Take the carpet and cut out a 2 by 10 piece from the middle. You will now have two 10 by 4 pieces to put along the 12 meter walls. Next cut off a 1 by 2 piece off the strip. lay the 2 by 9 piece across the bare part of the room. Take the 1 by 2 piece to cover the middle spot on the other end. You will now have a 1 by 8 cutout in the center of a 12 by 9 carpet.
obs20 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-06-2010, 01:41 PM   #7
Mickey330
Addict
Mickey330 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Mickey330 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Mickey330 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Mickey330 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Mickey330 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Mickey330 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Mickey330 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Mickey330 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Mickey330 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Mickey330 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Mickey330 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Mickey330's Avatar
 
Posts: 378
Karma: 1107420
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Western New York state (USA)
Device: Kindle Oasis & the Kindle app on iDevices
Here's My Attempt

So excited. My first try at solving one of your puzzles (I usually have to give up and peek at the spoilers)!

Spoiler:
Take the 10 x 10 carpet and cut twice: Two pieces will be 10 x 4 and one will be 10 x 2.

Cut the 10 x 2 piece so that you've got a 9 x 2 and a 1 x 2 piece.

Then, you put them together so the two 10 x 8 pieces are horizontal with the 9 x 2 piece butting up against them vertically on one side. Use the little 1 x 2 piece on the other side to finish off the empty space.

This explanation comes out better if I could show a picture, but since I've just figured out how to use spoiler tags, I'll just say "pic available upon request."


How'd I do?

Marilyn

Last edited by Mickey330; 08-06-2010 at 01:42 PM. Reason: Durn grammar!
Mickey330 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-06-2010, 01:46 PM   #8
noonionclub
Junior Member
noonionclub is on a distinguished road
 
Posts: 5
Karma: 50
Join Date: Aug 2010
Device: Kindle 2
Quote:
Originally Posted by GeoffC View Post
noonionclub

Welcome to mobileread ....
Thanks G. I've been a lurker for some time and decided to add my input to the wonderful puzzles that pdurrant has been providing.

Thanks pdurrant for providing me a use for my brain power besides reading all the time and watching movies. Lol. Keep up the good work.

Was trying to get fewer cuts and I still can't figure it out.
noonionclub is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-06-2010, 02:55 PM   #9
pdurrant
The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠
pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
pdurrant's Avatar
 
Posts: 71,429
Karma: 305784726
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Norfolk, England
Device: Kindle Voyage
Quote:
Originally Posted by clarknova View Post
I'm no interior designer, but this is just awful. Besides having a carpet that's all cut up, the room has no space for any furniture. Though since there is a huge aquarium in the middle, it'd be an onerous task moving anything in besides a card table and some folding chairs.

Anyway:
Spoiler:

The smallest I can figure it to be is three cuts (four pieces):
1) Cut two 4x10 pieces, and then cut off a 1x2 piece from the remaining 2x10.

331111111111
331111111111
331111111111
331111111111
33________44
332222222222
332222222222
332222222222
332222222222

or

2) Cut off a 1x10 strip, cut a 1x1 square from the end of that strip, and then cut out a 1x8 strip from the middle of the remaining 9x10 square.

143333333333
143333333333
143333333333
143333333333
14________33
143333333333
143333333333
143333333333
123333333333

I can't imagine doing it in 2 cuts, but I'll keep trying.
Good tries, but it's possible to do it with fewer pieces.
pdurrant is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-06-2010, 02:55 PM   #10
pdurrant
The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠
pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
pdurrant's Avatar
 
Posts: 71,429
Karma: 305784726
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Norfolk, England
Device: Kindle Voyage
Quote:
Originally Posted by obs20 View Post
Spoiler:
Three cuts.
Take the carpet and cut out a 2 by 10 piece from the middle. You will now have two 10 by 4 pieces to put along the 12 meter walls. Next cut off a 1 by 2 piece off the strip. lay the 2 by 9 piece across the bare part of the room. Take the 1 by 2 piece to cover the middle spot on the other end. You will now have a 1 by 8 cutout in the center of a 12 by 9 carpet.
Good try, but it's possible to do it with fewer pieces.
pdurrant is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-06-2010, 02:57 PM   #11
pdurrant
The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠
pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
pdurrant's Avatar
 
Posts: 71,429
Karma: 305784726
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Norfolk, England
Device: Kindle Voyage
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mickey330 View Post
So excited. My first try at solving one of your puzzles (I usually have to give up and peek at the spoilers)!

Spoiler:
Take the 10 x 10 carpet and cut twice: Two pieces will be 10 x 4 and one will be 10 x 2.

Cut the 10 x 2 piece so that you've got a 9 x 2 and a 1 x 2 piece.

Then, you put them together so the two 10 x 8 pieces are horizontal with the 9 x 2 piece butting up against them vertically on one side. Use the little 1 x 2 piece on the other side to finish off the empty space.

This explanation comes out better if I could show a picture, but since I've just figured out how to use spoiler tags, I'll just say "pic available upon request."


How'd I do?

Marilyn
As with the other solutions proposed so far, I think yours works, but it's possible to do it in fewer pieces.
pdurrant is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-06-2010, 02:58 PM   #12
pdurrant
The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠
pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
pdurrant's Avatar
 
Posts: 71,429
Karma: 305784726
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Norfolk, England
Device: Kindle Voyage
Quote:
Originally Posted by pdurrant View Post
What's the smallest number of pieces I must cut the 10x10 metre carpet into, to make it fit the 12x9 space, with the 8x1 hole in the middle?
Perhaps I should say that the answer is less than four pieces.
pdurrant is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-07-2010, 06:26 AM   #13
GeoffC
Chocolate Grasshopper ...
GeoffC ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.GeoffC ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.GeoffC ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.GeoffC ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.GeoffC ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.GeoffC ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.GeoffC ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.GeoffC ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.GeoffC ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.GeoffC ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.GeoffC ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
GeoffC's Avatar
 
Posts: 27,600
Karma: 20821184
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Scotland
Device: Muse HD , Cybook Gen3 , Pocketbook 302 (Black) , Nexus 10: wife has PW
Hopefully !

Spoiler:

Cut a 1 * 10 slice from one edge of the carpet and from one end of this slice remove 1 * 1 >> 2 pieces [ 1 * 9 & 1 * 1 ]

Cut a 1 * 8 piece into the middle of the remaining 10 * 9, from one of the shorter edges >> 1 large "U" shaped piece.

Lay the 1 * 8 piece to close off the "U" and add the 1 * 1.
Lay the 1 * 9 to complete.

3 pieces cut....

GeoffC is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-07-2010, 12:12 PM   #14
pdurrant
The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠
pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
pdurrant's Avatar
 
Posts: 71,429
Karma: 305784726
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Norfolk, England
Device: Kindle Voyage
Quote:
Originally Posted by GeoffC View Post
Hopefully !

Spoiler:

Cut a 1 * 10 slice from one edge of the carpet and from one end of this slice remove 1 * 1 >> 2 pieces [ 1 * 9 & 1 * 1 ]

Cut a 1 * 8 piece into the middle of the remaining 10 * 9, from one of the shorter edges >> 1 large "U" shaped piece.

Lay the 1 * 8 piece to close off the "U" and add the 1 * 1.
Lay the 1 * 9 to complete.

3 pieces cut....

Your solution works, but it's possible to do better than the four pieces of carpet you ended up with.
pdurrant is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-07-2010, 02:48 PM   #15
travger
Evangelist
travger ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.travger ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.travger ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.travger ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.travger ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.travger ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.travger ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.travger ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.travger ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.travger ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.travger ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
travger's Avatar
 
Posts: 480
Karma: 270594
Join Date: Aug 2010
Device: palm tx, Windows7, Galaxy A5
I must say, there are much more ways to cut a carpet to 4 pieces than I suspected!
travger is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Cake Cutting Puzzle pdurrant Lounge 27 07-07-2010 04:36 AM
Short Fiction James, Henry: The Figure in the Carpet, v.1, 18 July 2008. Patricia IMP Books 0 07-17-2008 11:29 PM
Short Fiction James, Henry: The Figure in the Carpet, v.1, 18 July 2008. Patricia Kindle Books 0 07-17-2008 11:27 PM
Short Fiction James, Henry: The Figure in the Carpet, v.1, 18 July 2008. Patricia BBeB/LRF Books 0 07-17-2008 11:23 PM
Carpet Wars, and Meditation book gvtexas Reading Recommendations 0 03-30-2003 02:11 AM


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 07:44 AM.


MobileRead.com is a privately owned, operated and funded community.