Here are some (elementary) notes on this problem that David Klarner started for the COMAP series (but never finished) http://www.plambeck.org/oldhtml/mathematics/klarner/boxpacking/index.htm Thane Plambeck http://www.plambeck.org/ehome.htm Kerry Mitchell wrote:

Hi all,

I've found out, through sheer playing around, that a 15x15 square can be tiled exactly using 4 5x5 squares, 9 3x3 squares, and 11 2x2 squares. No big deal. What I'd like to do is determine whether or not a certain combination of smaller squares will tile a larger square, without actually finding the tiling. For example, will 2 5x5s, 11 3x3s and 19 2x2s also tile a 15x15? I've already figured out that the areas need to match. :-) Any pointers or pearls of wisdom? Thanks, Kerry Mitchell -- lkmitch@gmail.com www.fractalus.com/kerry _______________________________________________ math-fun mailing list math-fun@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/math-fun