Tiling: Chessboards and polyominos
Maths circle meeting on 29 November 2025 (10 am - 1 pm)
Room and time: virtual/online with the video conferencing software Zoom (Paderborn University campus licence) from 10:00 to 13:00 (on Sat 29 Nov 2025) or 18:00-21:00 (on Wed 03 Dec 2025)
Leader of the workshop: Dr Kerstin Hesse
Description: The simplest of the chessboard problems is well known: We cut out the two opposite white corner squares from a chessboard. Is it possible to tile the rest of the chessboard with dominoes (which always cover two squares of a chessboard without overlapping)? If yes, how does it work? If not, why is it not possible? - In this Maths Circle meeting, we will investigate further tiling problems of the chessboard, in which the chessboard is to be tiled with certain polyominoes. A polyomino is a plane figure consisting of several squares of the same size joined together along complete edges. Only the domino is made from two squares. Three squares can be used to form an elongated tromino (all three squares are next to each other) or an angular tromino (the squares form an L with sides of equal length). - All the tiling problems considered can be solved using elementary logic with the help of suitable numbering or colouring of the chessboard.
Website with registration form: math.uni-paderborn.de/mathezirkel/
