TOPICS
Search

Curry Triangle


CurryTriangle

The Curry triangle, also sometimes called the missing square puzzle, is a dissection fallacy created by American neuropsychiatrist L. Vosburgh Lions as an example of a phenomenon discovered by Paul Curry. The figure apparently shows that a triangle of area 60, a triangle of area 58 containing a rectangular hole, and a broken rectangle of area 59 can all be formed out of the same set of 6 polygonal pieces. The explanation for this lies in the inaccuracy of the initial subdivision. In the diagrams, the small and large right triangles are similar, hence they cannot have perpendicular sides of lengths (2,5) and (3,7), respectively, as apparently shown in the drawing.


See also

Dissection Fallacy, Tangram Paradox

This entry contributed by Margherita Barile

Explore with Wolfram|Alpha

References

Gardner, M. The Scientific American Book of Mathematical Puzzles and Diversions. New York: Simon and Schuster, pp. 144-145, 1959.

Referenced on Wolfram|Alpha

Curry Triangle

Cite this as:

Barile, Margherita. "Curry Triangle." From MathWorld--A Wolfram Web Resource, created by Eric W. Weisstein. https://mathworld.wolfram.com/CurryTriangle.html

Subject classifications