2003 AMC 12A Problems/Problem 13

The following problem is from both the 2003 AMC 12A #13 and 2003 AMC 10A #10, so both problems redirect to this page.

Problem

The polygon enclosed by the solid lines in the figure consists of 4 congruent squares joined edge-to-edge. One more congruent square is attached to an edge at one of the nine positions indicated. How many of the nine resulting polygons can be folded to form a cube with one face missing?

$\mathrm{(A) \ } 2\qquad \mathrm{(B) \ } 3\qquad \mathrm{(C) \ } 4\qquad \mathrm{(D) \ } 5\qquad \mathrm{(E) \ } 6$

Solution

Solution 1

Let the squares be labeled $A$ , $B$ , $C$ , and $D$ .

When the polygon is folded, the "right" edge of square $A$ becomes adjacent to the "bottom edge" of square $C$ , and the "bottom" edge of square $A$ becomes adjacent to the "bottom" edge of square $D$ .

So, any "new" square that is attatched to those edges will prevent the polygon from becoming a cube with one face missing.

Therefore, squares $1$ , $2$ , and $3$ will prevent the polygon from becoming a cube with one face missing.

Squares $4$ , $5$ , $6$ , $7$ , $8$ , and $9$ will allow the polygon to become a cube with one face missing when folded.

Thus the answer is $\boxed{\mathrm{(E)}\ 6}$ .

Solution 2

Another way to think of it is that a cube missing one face has $5$ of its $6$ faces. Since the shape has $4$ faces already, we need another face. The only way to add another face is if the added square does not overlap any of the others. $1$ , $2$ , and $3$ overlap, while squares $4$ to $9$ do not. The answer is $\boxed{\mathrm{(E)}\ 6}$

Solution 3

If you're good at visualizing, you can imagine each box and fold up the shape into a 3D shape. This solution is only recommended if you are [b]GOOD AT VISUALIZING.[/b] We find out that $4,5,6,7,8$ and $9$ work. Therefore, the answer is $\boxed{\mathrm{(E)}\ 6}$ . ~Sophia866

Video Solution

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTA8_vkOekc&t=5s ~David

2003 AMC 10A (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
Preceded by Problem 9	Followed by Problem 11
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 AMC 10 Problems and Solutions

2003 AMC 12A (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
Preceded by Problem 12	Followed by Problem 14
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 AMC 12 Problems and Solutions

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

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