Conway puzzle facts for kids
Conway's puzzle, also called blocks-in-a-box, is a fun and tricky packing problem. It was created by a famous mathematician named John Conway. The puzzle challenges you to fit a special set of rectangular blocks into a 5 × 5 × 5 cube-shaped box.
The puzzle uses several different types of blocks:
- Thirteen blocks that are 1 unit by 2 units by 4 units (1 × 2 × 4).
- One block that is 2 units by 2 units by 2 units (2 × 2 × 2).
- One block that is 1 unit by 2 units by 2 units (1 × 2 × 2).
- Three blocks that are 1 unit by 1 unit by 3 units (1 × 1 × 3).
Your goal is to fit all these blocks perfectly inside the 5 × 5 × 5 box. No blocks should stick out, and there should be no empty spaces left inside the box.
Solving Conway's Puzzle
Finding the solution to Conway's puzzle becomes much easier once you understand a key idea. This idea involves something called "parity," which is about whether a number is odd or even.
For this puzzle, the trick is to realize how the three 1 × 1 × 3 blocks must be placed. You need to put them so that exactly one of these special blocks appears in each 5 × 5 × 1 "slice" of the big cube. Imagine slicing the 5 × 5 × 5 cube into five thin layers, each 5 × 5 × 1. Each layer must contain one of the 1 × 1 × 3 blocks.
This idea is similar to how you might solve another puzzle called the Slothouber–Graatsma puzzle. In both puzzles, understanding these hidden rules about how pieces fit together can make a difficult challenge much simpler to solve!
See also
In Spanish: Rompecabezas de Conway para niños
