A hard maths problem my colleague's 12 year old was set

[attimes_bracing]

My colleague's 12 year was set question 5.  The external square does not count and everything must be a square.  We tried overlapping and about 20 different permutations but could not get 9 squares.  I said I'd post it here because there are smart people on LJ.

Any thoughts?

Comments

[attimes-bracing.livejournal.com]

And that's what we got to through trial and error. Just wanted to check I wasn't missing anything obvious.

Will post the answer when my friend's kid gets it from their teacher.

[bohemiancoast.livejournal.com]

But personally I think the first answer is correct; there is no requirement for integer sides in the question.

[bohemiancoast.livejournal.com]

I've printed it off to entertain my children.

I'm reminded of the time that Marianne was given, aged about 8, the homework 'how many different ways can you make 79p up out of smaller coins'. I *did* solve it, but it took several pages of explanation and most of the weekend...