ARCHIMEDES AND HIS WORK ARCHIMEDES PRINCIPLE HIS SQUARE

ARCHIMEDES AND HIS WORK ARCHIMEDES PRINCIPLE HIS SQUARE T. Radman, 8 c

ARCHIMEDES’ SQUARE Archimedes' Square consists of 14 polygons of varying sizes and shapes dissected from a 12 x 12 square grid as shown above. Historical writings have recorded 18 shapes to solve with the pieces that form the square. The other 17 are illustrated below. More have been discovered since then. The classic shapes to make: Page 2

Archimedes' Square, "Stomachion": The world's oldest known puzzle

ARCHIMEDES PRINCIPLE A STORY OF A CROWN us o i c i p s u s g was n i k e h t t a us th s l l e t n o i t i Trad about the purity of the gold in his crown and asked Archimedes to find a way to determine if it was the real thing. blem ro p e th t u o b a g as thinkin w s e d e im h rc A y One da while taking a bat h. As he lay floa ting in the bath tub he though t about his Page 4 "weightles s" body.

ARCHIMEDES PRINCIPLE Suddenly he realized that all bodies "lose" a little weight when placed in water, and the bigger their volume, the more weight t hey lose . He realized that the density of a metal can be found from its weight and its weight loss in water. rown c 's g in K e of th im The weight h l l e t uld o w r ate w n i t igh e w f ss o o l t n are p p a s it were made out of pure gold. and it Page 5

ARCHIMEDES PRINCIPLE Archimedes shouted "Eureka!" (I have found it!) and rushed out into the street naked to announce that he had solved the problem. Today the effect he observed is called e Archim Page 6 d e. l p i c n i es' Pr