Ken's Puzzle of the Week
Tetromino Tiling
There are five basic tetrominos, as seen above.
- Why can't you place all five into a 4x5 rectangle? Reflections and
rotations are allowed.
- Place all five into a 3x7 rectangle. If you color the grid as a
checkerboard, with the corners black, which color is uncovered? Can
you find a different configuration which leaves the other color uncovered?
- If we color the pieces in a checkerboard pattern, we have seven
unique pieces.
Can these seven pieces be placed into a 4x7 rectangle, to create a
checkerboard pattern? Reflections and rotations
are allowed.
- If we color them and don't allow reflections, we have 10 unique pieces.
Can these 10 pieces be placed into a 5x8 rectangle to create a checkerboard
pattern? Into a 4x10 rectangle? Only rotations are allowed.
Source: Original.
Solution
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