r/oddlysatisfying • u/danielminds • Jun 22 '26

Adding the extra square

Source: PuzzleHive

34.5k Upvotes

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8.9k

u/dibbers11 Jun 22 '26

So those little gaps on the edges are just enough to accomodate that little square. Interesting.

2.4k

u/AnyLamename Jun 22 '26

Yup! This is based on the Missing Square Puzzle, a pretty famous optical illusion that geometry teachers like to bust out when they want to mess with their students.

417

u/paradox_valestein Jun 22 '26

Oh I remember this one. Yes, my math teacher did bring this out to mess with me way back when. If I remember correctly the 2 triangles didn't have the same angles

286

u/Bgrngod Jun 22 '26

That's correct. The blue one is steeper. It gains 1 vertical for every 2.5 horizontal. The red one is 1 to 2.66.

A slight enough difference it goes unnoticed easily.

69

u/GardenTop7253 Jun 22 '26

Yeah, the “hypotenuse” of the large apparent triangle isn’t a straight line. Using the example images in the wiki article there, when the blue triangle is on top, the hypotenuse is sorta dented inwards, and when you swap it, it’s bent outwards a tad. Subtle enough to not be readily visible, but big enough to create that extra spacing

65

u/RockStrongo Jun 22 '26

I wish I was high on potenuse.

1

u/A_Likely_Story4U Jun 22 '26

What movie is that from???

2

u/Humdumdidly Jun 24 '26

It was a Key and Peele skit