A Putnam Geometry Problem
I was looking through some old Putnam problems and came across this gem . I stumbled upon a fascinating solution that doesn't require calculus or trigonometry .
Give it a try and see what you come up with .
What is the smallest alpha such that two squares with total area 1 can always be placed inside a rectangle area alpha with sides parallel to those of the rectangle and with no overlap (of their interiors)?
|