8. Tony the gardener planted tulips and daisies in a square flowerbed of side-length , arranged as shown. What is the total area, in , of the regions in which he planted daisies?
A 48
B 46
C 44
D 40
E 36
Problem 489
Official solution
SOLUTION
First consider the intersection point of the lines forming the boundaries of the regions containing daisies. Since the arrangement of the regions is symmetric, these lines intersect at the mid-point of the flowerbed. Therefore, the diagonal passes through the intersection point. It divides the daisy beds into four congruent triangles, each of base and height as shown. Hence the total area of the regions in which daisies are grown is, in , equal to .