Pablo has solid that he assembles in
a larger cube.
If of the smaller cubes are red,
are blue, and are yellow, what is the smallest
possible surface area of the larger cube that is red?
, 2024
Solution
We begin by determining the number of inner toothpicks used to
make a by grid of squares.
A grid containing rows has horizontal lines of inner toothpicks,
each of which contains
toothpicks (since there are
columns).
Thus, the number of inner toothpicks positioned horizontally is .
A grid containing columns has
vertical lines of inner
toothpicks, each of which contains toothpicks (since there are rows).
Thus, the number of inner toothpicks positioned vertically is .
In total, there are
inner toothpicks.
Next, we determine the total number of toothpicks used to make a
by grid of squares.
There are horizontal lines of
toothpicks, each of which contains toothpicks.
There are vertical lines of
toothpicks, each of which contains toothpicks.
Thus, there are a total of toothpicks
used to make a by grid.
(Alternately, we could have determined that there are outer toothpicks, and so there are
toothpicks in
total.)
The percentage of inner toothpicks used is , which is
when rounded to the nearest
percent.