“The Pup Tent Problem”: Solution
Solution to The Pup Tent Problem:
The test makers were expecting the answer (C), but several students pointed out that in fact (A) is correct — the shapes fit together to produce a surprisingly simple object with only five faces.
This is easiest to see if you imagine two square pyramids side by side: The tetrahedron fits precisely between them to make a smooth-sided “pup tent”:
If you have polyhedral dice, try fitting the face of a 4-sided to an 8-sided die; you’ll find that the adjoining sides are coplanar.
