Diagonals of Tiles by Sean Soni

Problem: If we have a 2 by 3 rectangular array of tiles, how many tiles

does the diagonal of the rectangle pass through?

Solution: These arent big numbers, so we can draw it out. We see from
the diagram below that the answer is 4 .

But what if we had to do the same problem with larger numbers? We

couldnt draw it out. So lets look for a pattern. Well, from the diagram,
we see that the diagonal doesnt pass through any corners of tiles except for
at the beginning and the end of the diagonal. The reason for this is because
2 and 3 are relatively prime. (That means that they have no common
divisors other than 1.) So we see that the diagonal passes through 1 tile
every time it goes down, and 1 tile every time it moves to the right. Using
this information, and thinking about the situation, we can generalize the
problem and solution:

Problem: If we have an n by m rectangular array of tiles, where n and m

are relatively prime, how many tiles does the diagonal of the rectangle pass
through?

Solution: Using our information from earlier, we can see that the answer
will be n + m 1 .

Problem: If we have an 8 by 11 rectangular array of tiles, how many tiles

does the diagonal of the rectangle pass through?

Solution: We know that 8 and 11 are relatively prime, because their Great-
est Common Divisor is 1. So we apply the formula, and get 8+111 = 18 .
Draw a diagram on graph paper if you need convincing.

Problem: If we have an 24 by 60 rectangular array of tiles, how many tiles

does the diagonal of the rectangle pass through?

Solution: We have a problem with our formula. 24 and 60 ARE NOT

relatively prime, because 12 divides them both. So lets divide both of our
numbers by 12. 24 60
12 = 2 and 12 = 5. So now we simplify the problem down
to a 3 by 5 rectangular array of tiles. Use our formula to get 3+5-1=7. So
the diagonal passes through 7 tiles. BUT WAIT! We forgot about how we
divided that 12 out earlier. So multiply it by our answer: 12 7 = 84 .

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Diagonals of Tiles by Sean Soni

Practice Problems

1. On a rectangular grid, 13 inches by 17 inches, how many squares does

a diagonal of the rectangle pass through? (AoPS Mad Skills Com-
petition 2006, Problem 3)

2. If we have an 11 by 27 rectangular array of tiles, how many tiles does

the diagonal of the rectangle pass through?

3. If we have a 16 by 56 rectangular array of tiles, how many tiles does

the diagonal of the rectangle pass through?

4. If we have a 91 by 104 rectangular array of tiles, how many tiles does

the diagonal of the rectangle pass through?

5. Through the interiors (not just vertices) of how many lattice squares
does the segment connecting (0,0) and (119,153) pass? (A lattice
square has sides of length 1 and vertices with integer coordinates.)
(Mandelbrot 1991, Round 3, Problem 7)

Challenge Problem:
A) Convice yourself that the formula m + n 1 is true, by rereading
the above paragraph. Draw out a few simple diagrams on graph paper.
B) Once again using graph paper, prove that we can divide out the
Greatest Common Divisor (GCD), apply the formula, and multiply
our answer by the GCD again.

Final Thoughts
This is a useful technique. I know I have seen a few MathCounts
problems like this on old tests. Also, Mandelbrot tests have 8 prob-
lems in order of increasing difficulty. Since Problem 5 was #7 on the
Mandelbrot, they considered it very hard.
Email any corrections to: seansoni@gmail.com.