Tangram

Tangram () is a Chinese puzzle. While the tangram is often said to be ancient, its existence has only been verified as far back as 1800.

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It consists of 7 pieces, called tans, which fit together to form a square; taking the square as the unit:

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• 5 right isosceles triangles
• 2 small (legs of 1)
• 1 medium size (legs of $sqrt\{2\}$)
• 2 large size (legs of 2)
• 1 square (side of 1)
• 1 parallelogram (sides of 1 and $sqrt\{2\}$)

The objective is to form a given shape with seven pieces. The shape has to contain all the pieces, which must not overlap.

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It is said that the Pythagorean theorem was discovered in the Orient with help of tangram pieces. Jacob Bronowski on his television series The Ascent of Man demonstrated a method of proving the Theorem using pieces similar to those of the tangram, saying that the Pythagoreans may have used this method.

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The puzzler Sam Loyd devised many tangram puzzles. Lewis Carroll reputedly was a great enthusiast of tangrams and possessed a Chinese book with tissue-thin leaves containing 323 tangram designs. Napoleon allegedly passed his time on working with tangrams in Elba.

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Tangram is said to have been brought to America by Western sailors who stopped in China during the opium trade, however there is no evidence to support this claim.

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The word "tangram" has no meaning in Chinese; the English word is built from TANG + GRAM. In the Cantonese dialect, Tang (?) is a synonym of "Chinese".

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Tangram: Making a set of tans ►



 

Chinese: Chinese can mean:...

Puzzle: A puzzle is a problem or enigma presented as entertainment; that is written down, acted out, etc. Many puzzles stem from serious mathematical or logistical problems, whereas others are devised for the sole purpose of being brain teasers. The history of puzzles goes back many thousand years, a tangra...

1800: 1800 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar)....




Tangram related Images and Photos (experimental)

Tangram Wooden Puzzle

Tangram Puzzle-a-Day 2011 Desk Calendar

Tangram Puzzle-a-Day 2012 Desk Calendar