quote:

Originally posted by laurence shore:
In re the last picture with disputing the calculation of the Rambam from a friend in Texas
The area of the black square is (1.5+1)^2 = 6.25
Each of the red lines is sqrt(1.5^2+1^2), which is a bit over 1.8.
The total area of "diamond 2" is therefore 1.5^2+1^2 = 3.25. It is a square that is angled, not what we typically call a diamond.
This area is composed of two types of area:
A. 4 1.0x1.5 triangles, each 0.75 in size. The total area of these triangles is 3, as the diamond that Rambam discussed.
B. A 0.5x0.5 square, 0.25 in size.
So, 2x3 = 6. If you break it into eight triangles of 1.5x1 and rotate two of them, you get a 2.5x2.5 = 6.25 square composed of the original eight triangles plus a 0.5x0.5 square in the middle.
Each diamond, composed of only four triangles, is still 3 in size, just like the Rambam said.

quote:

Originally posted by laurence shore:
If an arugah has a border of one tephach high, then one can plant 13 species.