"In
any quest for magic, in any search for sorcery, witchery,
legedermain, first check the human heart"
Rod
Serling
Puzzles
with vanishing effects are a curious branch of geometry which
are useful for hands-on teaching purposes and as math-thinking
motivators. With a humble puzzle like the Tangram, the 7-piece
'chinese' puzzle, we can make geometrical miracle if we add
to it 2 L-shaped pieces as shown below (fig. 1). By rearranging
the puzzle pieces, you have to recompose the initial rectangular
puzzle with 1 piece missing!
Take
a Tangram puzzle (if you haven't one, cut the puzzle out of
a chipboard sheet according to the diagram above with grey
background, fig.1) and form with these 7 pieces the black figures
below. Then, form their white counterparts. In both cases,
you have to use all 7 pieces! Explain why a small triangular
element is missing in the black figures.
Tangramagic
Puzzle
Is
an innovative version of the famous Tangram puzzle. First,
the issue is to recompose the rectangular puzzle with 1 piece
missing, then, to make an element of an assembled figure
disappear (or appear). There
are two puzzle models available: TangraMagic
Foam and TangraMagic
Forex® (hard plastic). Price: $6.50 (T
foam) | $13.00 (T forex)
| Age: 8 +
The
Tangram puzzle is said to come from China 200 years ago.
Actually, its origin is uncertain. In Chinese, the Tangram
puzzle is named "qi qiao ban" (pron. Ch'ee Ch'yao
Pann) or "qi qiao tu", and even "yi zhi tu"...
A lot of names for such a humble game!
Early
book of the Tangram puzzle published around the XIX century
Italy
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