Category: Puzzles

An ant is positioned at one of the vertices of a cube and wants to get to the opposite vertex. If the edges of the die have length 1, what is the shortest distance the ant needs to travel?

We unfold a cube to get a cross-shaped figure. Then, the problem is to find the shortest path between two points separated by a horizontal distance of 2 units and a vertical distance of 1 unit.

It is easy to see that the path in question is the one passing through the middle of the edge between the start and end points, and which has a distance of √5.

There is a square drawn on a piece of paper and also a point marked with invisible ink. You are allowed to draw 3 lines on the paper and for each of them you will be told whether the point is on its left, on its right, or lies on the line. Your task is to find out whether the point is inside the square, outside the square, or on its boundary. How do you do it?

Draw one of the diagonals of the square. Then, draw the 2 lines containing the sides of the square that are on the same side as the invisible point.