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Finding Area of a Rectangle Based on Areas of Smaller Ones

Source: Hungary-Israel Mathematical Competition 2007 Problem 4

November 19, 2007
geometryrectangleinductioncombinatorics unsolvedcombinatorics

Problem Statement

A given rectangle R R is divided into mnmn small rectangles by straight lines parallel to its sides. (The distances between the parallel lines may not be equal.) What is the minimum number of appropriately selected rectangles’ areas that should be known in order to determine the area of R R?