Henry Ernest Dudeney/Puzzles and Curious Problems/219 - The Three Tablecloths/Solution

Puzzles and Curious Problems by Henry Ernest Dudeney: $219$

The Three Tablecloths

A person had $3$ tablecloths, each $4$ feet square.

What is the length of the side of the largest square table top that they will cover together?

Solution

The three tablecloths will cover a table $5$ feet $1$ inch square, if laid like so:

$ABCD$ is the tabletop, and $1$, $2$, $3$ are the cloths.

Portions of $2$ and $3$ fall off the edge of the table.

Sources

• 1932: Henry Ernest Dudeney: Puzzles and Curious Problems ... (previous) ... (next): Solutions: $219$. -- The Three Tablecloths
• 1968: Henry Ernest Dudeney: 536 Puzzles & Curious Problems ... (previous) ... (next): Answers: $274$. Three Tablecloths