1992 AJHSME Problems/Problem 20

Problem

Which pattern of identical squares could NOT be folded along the lines shown to form a cube?

[asy] unitsize(12); draw((0,0)--(0,-1)--(1,-1)--(1,-2)--(2,-2)--(2,-3)--(4,-3)--(4,-2)--(3,-2)--(3,-1)--(2,-1)--(2,0)--cycle); draw((1,0)--(1,-1)--(2,-1)--(2,-2)--(3,-2)--(3,-3)); draw((7,0)--(8,0)--(8,-1)--(11,-1)--(11,-2)--(8,-2)--(8,-3)--(7,-3)--cycle); draw((7,-1)--(8,-1)--(8,-2)--(7,-2)); draw((9,-1)--(9,-2)); draw((10,-1)--(10,-2)); draw((14,-1)--(15,-1)--(15,0)--(16,0)--(16,-1)--(18,-1)--(18,-2)--(17,-2)--(17,-3)--(16,-3)--(16,-2)--(14,-2)--cycle); draw((15,-2)--(15,-1)--(16,-1)--(16,-2)--(17,-2)--(17,-1)); draw((21,-1)--(22,-1)--(22,0)--(23,0)--(23,-2)--(25,-2)--(25,-3)--(22,-3)--(22,-2)--(21,-2)--cycle); draw((23,-1)--(22,-1)--(22,-2)--(23,-2)--(23,-3)); draw((24,-2)--(24,-3)); draw((28,-1)--(31,-1)--(31,0)--(32,0)--(32,-2)--(31,-2)--(31,-3)--(30,-3)--(30,-2)--(28,-2)--cycle); draw((32,-1)--(31,-1)--(31,-2)--(30,-2)--(30,-1)); draw((29,-1)--(29,-2)); label("(A)",(0,-0.5),W); label("(B)",(7,-0.5),W); label("(C)",(14,-0.5),W); label("(D)",(21,-0.5),W); label("(E)",(28,-0.5),W);[/asy]

Solution

If pattern $\boxed{\text{(D)}}$ were to be folded into a cube, the topmost square would overlap the rightmost square.

See Also

1992 AJHSME (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 19
Followed by
Problem 21
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
All AJHSME/AMC 8 Problems and Solutions

The problems on this page are copyrighted by the Mathematical Association of America's American Mathematics Competitions. AMC logo.png