Newsletter #16 : A Valentine’s Day Math Puzzle

[This is a back-issue of this website’s newsletter]

A week or three ago, on a visit to Singapore, I went with my wife to a restaurant where they served a yummy heart-shaped biscuit with heart-shaped sprinkles on it. The three colors of the sprinkles suggested a puzzle to me – how is it possible to cut the biscuit into three pieces, so that all the white hearts are on one piece, all the pink hearts on the second piece, and all the red hearts on the third piece?

Now some might say that making a math puzzle out of a heart-shaped biscuit takes all the romance out of the biscuit. On the other hand, it puts the romance back into math, and who could complain about that… 🙂

In any case, I’ve now found the time to make up worksheets of this math puzzle, and upload them (with instructions) onto the website. Visit this page and you’ll be able to dowload whichever version of the worksheet is most suitable for you or your kids or your class. Just in time for February the 14th, too!

Because of the heart shape, the worksheets are perfect for a Valentine’s Day theme, however the puzzle will work fine at any time of the year. By the way, the web page also has directions to the restaurant where we bought the biscuit…