MathDB

Three one-inch squares are palced with their bases on a line. The center square is lifted out and rotated

45^\circ

, as shown. Then it is centered and lowered into its original location until it touches both of the adjoining squares. How many inches is the point

B

from the line on which the bases of the original squares were placed? [asy]unitsize(1inch); defaultpen(linewidth(.8pt)+fontsize(8pt));
draw((0,0)--((1/3) + 3*(1/2),0)); fill(((1/6) + (1/2),0)--((1/6) + (1/2),(1/2))--((1/6) + 1,(1/2))--((1/6) + 1,0)--cycle, rgb(.7,.7,.7)); draw(((1/6),0)--((1/6) + (1/2),0)--((1/6) + (1/2),(1/2))--((1/6),(1/2))--cycle); draw(((1/6) + (1/2),0)--((1/6) + (1/2),(1/2))--((1/6) + 1,(1/2))--((1/6) + 1,0)--cycle); draw(((1/6) + 1,0)--((1/6) + 1,(1/2))--((1/6) + (3/2),(1/2))--((1/6) + (3/2),0)--cycle);
draw((2,0)--(2 + (1/3) + (3/2),0)); draw(((2/3) + (3/2),0)--((2/3) + 2,0)--((2/3) + 2,(1/2))--((2/3) + (3/2),(1/2))--cycle); draw(((2/3) + (5/2),0)--((2/3) + (5/2),(1/2))--((2/3) + 3,(1/2))--((2/3) + 3,0)--cycle);
label("

B

",((1/6) + (1/2),(1/2)),NW); label("

B

",((2/3) + 2 + (1/4),(29/30)),NNE);
draw(((1/6) + (1/2),(1/2)+0.05)..(1,.8)..((2/3) + 2 + (1/4)-.05,(29/30)),EndArrow(HookHead,3));
fill(((2/3) + 2 + (1/4),(1/4))--((2/3) + (5/2) + (1/10),(1/2) + (1/9))--((2/3) + 2 + (1/4),(29/30))--((2/3) + 2 - (1/10),(1/2) + (1/9))--cycle, rgb(.7,.7,.7)); draw(((2/3) + 2 + (1/4),(1/4))--((2/3) + (5/2) + (1/10),(1/2) + (1/9))--((2/3) + 2 + (1/4),(29/30))--((2/3) + 2 - (1/10),(1/2) + (1/9))--cycle);[/asy] (A)\ 1\qquad (B)\ \sqrt {2}\qquad (C)\ \frac {3}{2}\qquad (D)\ \sqrt {2} \plus{} \frac {1}{2}\qquad (E)\ 2

19

Problems(2)