Problem:
A regular hexagon has area . Every minute, greedy George places the largest possible equilateral triangle that does not overlap with other already-placed triangles in the hexagon, with ties broken arbitrarily. How many triangles would George need to cover at least of the hexagon's area?
, 2019
Solution
Solution:
It's not difficult to see that the first triangle must connect three non-adjacent vertices (e.g. ), which covers area , and leaves three -- triangles of area each. Then, the next three triangles cover of the respective small triangle they are in, and leave six -- triangles of area each.
This process continues, doubling the number of -- triangles each round and the area of each triangle is divided by each round. After triangles, the remaining area is , and the last triangle removed triangle has area , so this is the minimum number necessary.
Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track
puts 2,000 problems in a working order, from AMC 10 level to the IMO shortlist.