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Rubber star (Posted on 2005-09-02) Difficulty: 3 of 5
Many people can make a five pointed star by manipulating a rubber band in their hands. When the star is complete, the five points go around five fingers. However, there is a way to create a star design such that only three fingers touch the rubber band. Can you do it?

  Submitted by Tristan    
Rating: 4.0000 (1 votes)
Solution: (Hide)
When finished, the three fingers should be pointing towards yourself in a triangle like this:
()  ()

  ()
The rubberband is wrapped around your fingers, and the star is formed from five tangent lines shared by pairs of fingers. To make my diagrams clearer, I've separated these lines and put them in order. The rubberband goes in a loop path, first creating the first line, then the second, third, fourth, and fifth before completing its loop.

1.         2.         3.        
()\   ()   ()   /()   ()____()
   \           / 
    \         /
   ()         ()         ()

4.         5.
 __             __
() \__()   ()__/ ()


   ()         ()
If the star is not clear, I suggest drawing on paper all these lines together, or better yet, use a sufficiently large rubber band.

Comments: ( You must be logged in to post comments.)
  Subject Author Date
re(2): 5 points, if you'd rather...Josh706792005-09-07 20:18:19
re: 5 points, if you'd rather...Richard2005-09-03 18:06:37
Solution5 points, if you'd rather...Josh706792005-09-02 20:57:29
Some Thoughts6 pointed starJosh706792005-09-02 20:00:31
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