Can you make five differently sized squares from the tangram
Is there a best way to stack cans? What do different supermarkets
do? How high can you safely stack the cans?
What is the greatest number of squares you can make by overlapping
Alistair and his sisters Rachel and Abigail, all from Histon and
Impington Infants School, sent a joint solution:
Rachel and Abigail discussed the shapes, and said that shape B
would fall down - because balancing on the pointy bits would be
Shape F would roll down.
Shape I has only got one "leg" at one edge, and there is no weight
on the other side to balance it. (Their mum believes they were
thinking of a T shape without the right arm.)
Shape I has a fulcrum at the top right, and a weight on the top
left so the cuboid will turn downwards and fall over.
Shape D has sort of wheels so if it is made on a flat surface it
should be OK, but if it is tilted, the cuboid will roll off.
Rachel and Abigail suggested that if the shapes were given a
little "shove", E might fall over. (Mum's translation:
Alistair, Rachel and Abigail don't mention shapes A, C, G or H.
I wonder if this is because they think these are stable?