Scissors Congruence Problem

Math 408
Fall 2016

By

Team BJL
Brett Shaw, Josh Cutter, Lauren Martin
Intended Audience

The Scissors Congruence Problem could be catered to both middle and high

school level students. The general concepts and ideas are not difficult to understand,

however the proofs in-depth can be more challenging. If middle school teachers would

like to use or demonstrate the Scissors Congruence Problem to their class it may be

done so on a conceptual level or visual level. However many details of the proof could

be better understood by a high school level geometry class, thus for our purposes we

will be writing with high school teachers in mind.

Abstract

Given two polygons of equal area, can you slice one (with scissors), and

rearrange the pieces to obtain the other? We begin by looking at triangles,

parallelograms, and rectangles. Extending thinking we ask, can this be done for

irregular polygons such as castles or stars? Furthermore can this be done for any

polygon?

Assume every polygon discussed has area N. To prove this, we first proved

every triangle could be sliced and rearranged to a parallelogram. We then proved a

parallelogram could be sliced and rearranged into a rectangle. Finally, because the area

of the polygons is N, we proved every rectangle could be sliced and rearranged into an

Nx1 rectangle. Once each polygon is an Nx1 rectangle we can apply the inverse

operations of each to obtain the other.

Finally we address remaining questions, helpful tips for teachers, and curriculum

connections.
Keywords

Polygon, slice, rearrange

Exposition of Main Results

Because every polygon can be sliced into triangles, we begin by slicing our given

polygons of equal area (area = N) into triangles. We can then prove triangles can be

sliced and rearranged into parallelograms; parallelograms can be sliced and rearranged

into rectangles; and finally the rectangles can be sliced and rearranged into one N x 1

rectangle. Doing this to both polygons results in two Nx1 rectangles, which are

congruent. We can then apply the inverse operations to obtain the other polygon from

the N x 1 rectangles. Thus we have mapped one polygon to the other.

 Inquiry and Exploration Module

Conjectural Inquiry

To begin understanding the Scissors Congruence Problem have your students

first work through the following three problems in groups:

Slice and rearrange one of polygons below so that it fits into the other.

1.

Slice and rearrange one of polygons below so that it fits into the other.
2.

Slice and rearrange one of polygons below so that it fits into the other.
3.
 Each set of polygons have equal area and should be fairly easy to slice and

rearrange into the other. By having the students perform the slicing and rearranging

prompts the motivation for the Scissor Congruence Problem and begins to set up our

conjecture. Once students finish slicing and rearranging these problems, have groups

present and explain their slices and rearrangements to the class. This will enable them

to put into words their thoughts behind each cut and be able better understand the

problem. To promote deeper thinking and connecting, the following questions may be

asked:

Questions to ask students

1. How do we define polygon, slice, and rearrange?

2. Could you slice the other polygon and have it work the same?

3. Would this work for irregular polygons, such as a castle or star?

4. Given any two polygons of equal area, do you think that we could slice and

rearrange one to get the other?

The previous problems and questions should lead students to the conjecture:

Given two polygons of equal area, we can slice and rearrange one polygon to obtain the

other.

Proof Inquiry

Before we begin our proof we will define our key terms. A polygon is a planar

figure bounded by vertices and edges that are line segments. Let us define a slice as

cutting so that the new and remaining figures are polygons. Finally lets define

rearrange as applying an isometry to a polygon.

Induction claim: Quadrilaterals with area N can be sliced and rearranged into N x 1

rectangles.

Proof. Begin by slicing the quadrilateral into triangles, which we know to be

possible. Then refer to base claim.

Because every polygon can be sliced into triangles, we can then prove that every

polygon, with area N, can be sliced and rearranged into N x 1 rectangles. Once each

polygon is sliced and rearranged into an N x 1 rectangle we can perform the inverse

operations to obtain the other equal area polygon. Thus every equal area polygon can

be sliced and rearranged into another.

Further Exploration

In the proof, why is it significant that we can slice and rearrange each polygon

into a N x 1 rectangle?

Why is it imperative that each polygon can be sliced into some number of

triangles?

How would this conjecture apply in the real world?

How would this problem change if we altered our definitions of slice and

rearrange?

Which parts of this proof, if any, would apply to a similar conjecture with 3D

polyhedron?

Wrap Up

Overall, we have looked at how a polygon, with area N, can be sliced into triangles,

each of those triangles sliced and rearranged into parallelograms, those parallelograms
can be sliced and rearranged into rectangles and those rectangles sliced and

rearranged into 1 x N rectangles. From there we can apply similar changes to the other

polygon so that both are in the form of 1 x N rectangles. From this position we can apply

the inverse of the rearrangements that we made to the other to either rectangle in order

to obtain the other original polygon. Thus polygons of equal area can be sliced and

rearranged to obtain the other.

Solutions

Definitions

A polygon is a planar figure bounded by vertices and edges that are line

segments.

Let us define a slice as cutting so that the new and remaining figures are

polygons.

Next lets define rearrange as applying an isometry to a polygon.

Other answers:

2. Yes, we hope that students can conjecture that those cuts can be applied the other

way as well in order to find the other polygon in reverse fashion.

3. Students should be inclined to think that these types of area comparisons can be

made to all shapes with the same area, not just regular polygons. They probably will not

know how to generalize the concept, but it will get them thinking beyond the basic

rectangles and triangles.

4. Here the overall general conjecture is presented as a question and hopefully students

will assume that we can indeed go from any polygon to another with the same area.
 Guide

Curricular Alignment

Below is a list of standards that this problem brings forth for students. This

problem can be catered to middle or high school students, but we chose to look more at

the high school level. The standards in blue are what we considered to be prior

knowledge and the ones in black could be introduced in the problem. We felt that there

were a lot of geometry standards that lined up with this problem and if teachers wanted

to create a long-term project throughout a unit that this problem could make that happen

and allow the teacher to build upon the problem over time. If a long term project is not

possible, this problem can be used as an end of unit project as well. The standard in

purple was one we considered to be an extension of the problem. Even though it was a

seventh grade geometry standard, ideas from this one could be brought forth to think

more deeply about this idea with three dimensional figures.

We were most proud of our conjectural inquiry activity, because we felt that it

was an engaging way to get the students thinking about all of the ways that the

standards come together in this problem. Writing this question helped us to see how the

proof came together and better understand the steps and how they are connected to

each other.

Prior Knowledge

6.G.A.1

Find the area of right triangles, other triangles, special quadrilaterals, and

polygons by composing into rectangles or decomposing into triangles and

 other shapes; apply these techniques in the context of solving real-world

and mathematical problems.

8.G.A.1

Verify experimentally the properties of rotations, reflections, and

translations.

8.G.A.2

Understand that a two-dimensional figure is congruent to another if the

second can be obtained from the first by a sequence of rotations,

reflections, and translations; given two congruent figures, describe a

sequence that exhibits the congruence between them.

HSG-CO.A.1

Know precise definitions of angle, circle, perpendicular line, parallel line,

and line segment, based on the undefined notions of point, line, distance

along a line, and distance around a circular arc.

HSG-CO.A.4

Develop definitions of rotations, reflections, and translations in terms of

angles, circles, perpendicular lines, parallel lines, and line segments.

HSG-CO.A.5

Given a geometric figure and a rotation, reflection, or translation, draw the

transformed figure using, e.g., graph paper, tracing paper, or geometry

software. Specify a sequence of transformations that will carry a given

figure onto another.

HSG-CO.D.12

Make formal geometric constructions with a variety of tools and methods

(compass and straightedge, string, reflective devices, paper folding,

dynamic geometric software, etc.). Copying a segment; copying an angle;

bisecting a segment; bisecting an angle; constructing perpendicular lines,

including the perpendicular bisector of a line segment; and constructing a

line parallel to a given line through a point not on the line.

Introduced

HSG-CO.B.6

Use geometric descriptions of rigid motions to transform figures and to

predict the effect of a given rigid motion on a given figure; given two

figures, use the definition of congruence in terms of rigid motions to

decide if they are congruent.

HSG-CO.B.7

Use the definition of congruence in terms of rigid motions to show that two

triangles are congruent if and only if corresponding pairs of sides and

corresponding pairs of angles are congruent.

HSG-CO.B.8

Explain how the criteria for triangle congruence (ASA, SAS, and SSS)

follow from the definition of congruence in terms of rigid motions.

HSG-CO.C.9

Prove theorems about lines and angles. Theorems include: vertical angles

are congruent; when a transversal crosses parallel lines, alternate interior

angles are congruent and corresponding angles are congruent; points on a

perpendicular bisector of a line segment are exactly those equidistant from

the segment's endpoints.

HSG-CO.C.10

Prove theorems about triangles. Theorems include: measures of interior

angles of a triangle sum to 180; base angles of isosceles triangles are

congruent; the segment joining midpoints of two sides of a triangle is

parallel to the third side and half the length; the medians of a triangle meet

at a point.

HSG-CO.C.11

Prove theorems about parallelograms. Theorems include: opposite sides

are congruent, opposite angles are congruent, the diagonals of a

parallelogram bisect each other, and conversely, rectangles are

parallelograms with congruent diagonals.

Extension

7.G.A.3

Describe the two-dimensional figures that result from slicing

three-dimensional figures, as in plane sections of right rectangular prisms

and right rectangular pyramids.

Notes for Teachers

The conjectural inquiry intentionally ties into our proof of the Scissor Congruence

Problem. Having the students work directly with the main components of the proof,

allows for connections to be made and for a smooth transition into the details of the

proofs. Once the students are able to see an example of each step - triangle to

parallelogram, parallelogram to rectangle, rectangle to N x 1 rectangle - they are able to

conceptually apply and understand how it would work for any given polygon. They dont

realize it but they have already conceptually proven this problem. The two things that

we dont explicitly prove but are imperative to the problem are the polygonal

triangulation theorem, that every polygon can indeed be sliced into triangles, and that all

of these slices and rearrangements can be done in reverse to obtain the original shape.

These two things make sense conceptually because they are logical, but we dont

actually prove them explicitly, so they should be discussed in detail for the students

understanding.

Additional Resources

Helpful theorems

These are theorems and corollaries that we found helpful when proving

this problem.

Another example of this proof that is found online

This is another example of a proof of the Scissor Congruence problem,

and the extension into 3D space.