Math and Puzzle Fans Find Magic in Martin Gardner's Legacy

Re:Math and Puzzle Fans Find Magic in Martin Gardner's Legacy by masfuerte on Friday November 01, 2024 @04:08PM (#42021014)

> The question is, can you think of a single shape that looks like a triangle from one side, a circle from a second side and a square from the third side?

He goes on to say that it resembles a household item. I can visualise the shape, but I can't think of anything that it looks like. Does anyone know what item it is?

There's a picture here:

https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/1947363/is-there-a-...

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Re:Math and Puzzle Fans Find Magic in Martin Gardner's Legacy by schoen on Friday November 01, 2024 @04:21PM (#42021171)

It looks like lipstick to me. Or possibly the end of a screwdriver or chisel.

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Re:Math and Puzzle Fans Find Magic in Martin Gardner's Legacy by parlortricks on Friday November 01, 2024 @05:15PM (#42021623)

Looks like an interchangable end to a cake frosting spatula.

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Re:Math and Puzzle Fans Find Magic in Martin Gardner's Legacy by BriggyDwiggs42 on Friday November 01, 2024 @06:09PM (#42022051)

Was thinking an axehead

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Re:Math and Puzzle Fans Find Magic in Martin Gardner's Legacy by retzkek on Friday November 01, 2024 @09:57PM (#42023478)

Toothpaste tube! https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c5/El...

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Re:Math and Puzzle Fans Find Magic in Martin Gardner's Legacy by herdyderdy on Friday November 01, 2024 @10:36PM (#42023645)

Looks like a duckbill valve. My wife’s breast pump uses them.

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Re:Math and Puzzle Fans Find Magic in Martin Gardner's Legacy by thomaspark on Saturday November 02, 2024 @01:25AM (#42024242)

How bout the rubber tip of a mucilage glue bottle:

https://deepfriedhoodsiecups.wordpress.com/2011/07/04/dfhc-7...

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Re:Math and Puzzle Fans Find Magic in Martin Gardner's Legacy by zem on Saturday November 02, 2024 @03:33AM (#42024678)

screwdriver head. perelman's "mathematics can be fun" has that and another couple of fun examples https://archive.org/details/MathematicsCanBeFun-Eng-YakovPer...

i got a copy of that book and gardner's "mathematical magic show" when i was 12 or so, and they both continue to entertain and delight me.

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Re:Math and Puzzle Fans Find Magic in Martin Gardner's Legacy by dredmorbius on Sunday November 03, 2024 @10:14PM (#42038099)

Tip of a chisel-headed felt pen.

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Re:Math and Puzzle Fans Find Magic in Martin Gardner's Legacy by eternityforest on Monday November 04, 2024 @06:46AM (#42040665)

Marker or soldering iron tip?

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