Stick puzzle

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Stick puzzles are a type of combination puzzle that uses multiple sticks or 'polysticks' (which can be one-dimensional objects) to assemble two- or three-dimensional configurations.

Polysticks are configurations of joined or unjoined thin (ideally one-dimensional) 'sticks'. The sticks may be; line segments on paper, matchsticks, pieces of straw, wire or similar.

A special class of stick puzzles are 'matchstick puzzles', where all parts used are sticks (usually matchsticks) rather than polysticks. Some trick puzzles can only be solved when one assumes that the sticks actually have measurements in more than one dimension. Three-dimensional arrangements like tetrastix can also be made from matchsticks [1] .

Examples of stick puzzles

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A hockey stick is a piece of sports equipment used by the players in all the forms of hockey to move the ball or puck either to push, pull, hit, strike, flick, steer, launch or stop the ball/puck during play with the objective being to move the ball/puck around the playing area using the stick, and then trying to score.

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A stick bomb is a (mechanical) spring-loaded device constructed out of flat sticks woven together under a bending moment. Other names for stick bombs include Chinese stick puzzles, Cobra wave, and frame bombs. Stick bombs are created for fun and as art, not for any practical use.

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Field hockey stick Means by which field hockey is played

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Ball-and-stick model

In chemistry, the ball-and-stick model is a molecular model of a chemical substance which is to display both the three-dimensional position of the atoms and the bonds between them. The atoms are typically represented by spheres, connected by rods which represent the bonds. Double and triple bonds are usually represented by two or three curved rods, respectively, or alternately by correctly positioned sticks for the sigma and pi bonds. In a good model, the angles between the rods should be the same as the angles between the bonds, and the distances between the centers of the spheres should be proportional to the distances between the corresponding atomic nuclei. The chemical element of each atom is often indicated by the sphere's color.

References

  1. Delft, Pieter van (1978). Creative puzzles of the world. New York: H.N. Abrams. ISBN   0810921529.