Arrange 3 Knives to Rest on Tips of Handles

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Problem

How can you arrange $3$ knives to balance while supported only by their handles?


Variant

Arrange $3$ knives so they can support a drinking glass, while in the space between $3$ other glasses placed on the table, another glass can be placed underneath that first glass.


Solution

Balancing-Knives.jpg


Historical Note

This problem appears for the first time in Récréations Mathématiques of $1624$ by H. van Etten.

In its English translation, it is worded to arrange three knives so that they:

hang in the air without being supported by anything but themselves.


Sources