Maths Challenge

Upper Primary: Years 5–6

Practice Problem

UP5: Annabel’s Ants

Annabel made a shape by placing identical square tiles in a frame as

shown in the diagram below. The tiles are arranged in columns. Each
column touches the base but no column touches the sides or top.
There are no empty gaps between columns. The frame can be
enlarged as needed.

Annabel notices an ant walking along the edge of the shape made by
the tiles. Beginning at the start, the ant follows the thick line. It walks
a total of 11 tile edges to reach the finish.

a. Draw a diagram to show how to arrange the 7 tiles so that the ant will
walk 8 tile edges.

b. Draw three different arrangements of the 7 tiles, no two with the same
maximum column height, so that the ant will walk 9 tile edges.

c. Draw three different arrangements of the 7 tiles, no two with the same
maximum column height, so that the ant will walk 9 tile edges.

d. Show that it is possible to arrange 49 tiles so that the ant walks fewer
than 21 tile edges.


c 2017 Australian Mathematics Trust.
 Solutions

a. There are two possible arrangements.

b. There is only one arrangement with maximum column height 1.

There are four arrangements with maximum column height 2. Here is

one arrangement.

There are five arrangements with maximum column height 3. Here is

one arrangement.


c 2017 Australian Mathematics Trust.
 c. Alternative 1
Here is one arrangement for each total number of tile edges from 10 to
15. There are several other arrangements.

Alternative 2
In this arrangement of 7 tiles the ant walk has 10 tile edges.


c 2017 Australian Mathematics Trust.
 One at a time, place the right tile above the left tile so as to make a
column on top of the left tile. Each time this is done, the horizontal
edge on top of the left column is removed from the ant walk but two
new (vertical) edges are added to the ant walk, one on the tile that is
moved and one on the tile that was next to it.

So the number of edges in the ant walk increases by exactly 1.

Five tiles can be moved in this way. So 7 tiles can be arranged to
produce ant walks with 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 tile edges.

d. There are only two possible arrangements: this one and its reflection
about a vertical line.


c 2017 Australian Mathematics Trust.