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Is bigger really better?

1.) Let's say your goal is to reduce gasoline consumption.
And, let's say there are only two kinds of cars in the world. Half of them are Suburbans that get 10 miles to the gallon and half are Priuses that get 50.
If we assume that all the cars drive the same number of miles, which would be a better investment:

• Get new tires for all the Suburbans and increase their mileage a bit to 12 miles per gallon.

• Replace all the Priuses and rewire them to get 100 miles per gallon (doubling their average!)

Extra Credit: How fuel efficient would the Priuses have to be in order to best the 2 mpg increase in the Suburbans?

Credit: Seth Godin


Crosscut

2.) Can you cut a symmetrical “Greek” cross (shown) into five pieces, so that one piece will be a smaller symmetrical Greek cross, and the other four pieces will
fit together to form a perfect square?

Crossways

3.) Can you arrange these four pieces (cut from a square as shown) to form a symmetrical Greek Cross?

[Greek Cross puzzles credit: Henry Dudeney (1857-1930)]

 

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