Copyright © University of Cambridge. All rights reserved.
'Let Us Reflect' printed from https://nrich.maths.org/
Ruth has sent in some ideas for the first part
of the question. She says you can put a mirror across the middle or
diagonally from corner to corner to see the whole square. She sent
these diagrams:
Gemma from Greenleas Primary School managed
to find a few more ways of seeing the whole square, as well as some
other shapes:
Siobhan from Daubeny Middle School also sent
in a very nice solution. She says:
There are four positions where the mirror can be put and you
can still 'see' the whole square: vertically in the centre,
horizontally in the centre, and on the two diagonals. So the square
has four lines of symmetry. To reflect part of the square to make
another shape, half the number of the sides of the shape you want
to make would need to be reflected into the mirror. The shape you
make will have at least one line of symmetry. The diagrams shows
the positions of the mirror to make more shapes.
Thank you for writing to us Siobhan, Ruth
and Gemma. Well done!