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1998 unit cubes, construct, axax 1 , b x b x1, and cxcx1 boards, 3floor tower

Source: Austrian Polish 1988 APMC

April 30, 2020
combinatoricscombinatorial geometry

Problem Statement

We are given 19881988 unit cubes. Using some or all of these cubes, we form three quadratic boards A,B,CA, B,C of dimensions a×a×1a \times a \times 1, b×b×1b \times b \times 1, and c×c×1c \times c \times 1 respectively, where abca \le b \le c. Now we place board BB on board CC so that each cube of BB is precisely above a cube of CC and BB does not overlap CC. Similarly, we place AA on BB. This gives us a three-floor tower. What choice of a,ba, b and cc gives the maximum number of such three-floor towers?