SOLUTION: The tennis court in the college is rectangular in shape of size n*m metres. We need to pave the court with square stones. The square stone is of size a*a. What is the least nu

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Question 967782: The tennis court in the college is rectangular in shape of size n*m metres. We need to pave the court with square stones. The square stone is of size a*a.

What is the least number of stones needed to pave the tennis court? It's allowed to cover the surface larger than the Tennis Court, but the court has to be covered. It's not allowed to break the stones. The sides of stones should be parallel to the sides of the court.
Found 2 solutions by josgarithmetic, Theo:
Answer by josgarithmetic(39621) About Me  (Show Source):
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How many stones of area a%5E2 will fit in the area of n%2Am ?
What is %28nm%29%2Fa%5E2? In case the ratio is nonwhole, Round upward to the nearest whole number.

Answer by Theo(13342) About Me  (Show Source):
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i would think r(n/a) * r(m/a) would cover the court with the minimum number of tiles.

r is a function that rounds n/a up to the next highest integer.

for example:

assume the court is 5 by 7.
small numbers, but easier to analyze.
suppose the squares are 2 by 2.

5/2 = 2.5 which would be rounded up to 3.
7/2 = 3.5 which would be rounded up to 4.

total squares required would be 3 * 4 = 12.

i don't think you could get away with less than that since you have to cover both the length and the width.

here's a picture of what i mean.

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