How many squares can you make with 12 sticks?
Sarah Oconnor
Updated on February 28, 2026
It is bewildering at first. Especially when you know that with 12 matchsticks you can make a maximum number of 4 squares with 4 common sticks between them.
How many matches are needed to create 4 squares?
A single common stick would have reduced the number of sticks required to 15. 16 matchsticks would be enough to make these four independent squares.
How many sticks will be used to form five squares?
How many sticks are required to form a square? It is 4. So to form 5 independent squares 20 sticks would have been used—4 more than 16 sticks we have.
How many matchsticks will there be in the 4th picture?
Answer: If you look closely, the middle match stick is not the reflection in the mirror, there is one, matchstick behind the lighter. One has to count them. So in total, there are eight matches.
Can you move 4 matchsticks to create 3 squares?
Because of this tiny bit of similarity of an additional element, you can form three squares from 4, by moving 3 sticks, not 4.
How many matches to make 4 squares in 5 squares puzzle?
You have to move 3 matches to make 4 squares in the 5 squares matchstick puzzle figure with no stick left hanging. In how many ways can you do it? Total Recommended time is 10 minutes.
How many squares can you make with two matchsticks?
Move two matchsticks to make four squares. Solution explained. Move two matchsticks to make four identical squares. The resulting shape cannot be 3D, and there should not be any loose ends or overlapping matchsticks.
How many squares to make 3 perfect squares?
16 squares to none Remove 9 matches so that no square (of any size) remains – puzzle solution 3 squares to 5 Move 6 matches so that 5 squares are formed – puzzle solution Make 3 squares Move 3 matches to get 3 perfect squares – puzzle solution
How many sticks does it take to make 5 squares?
The 4 common sticks in the puzzle figure reduced the requirement of 20 sticks to form 5 independent squares to 20 − 4 = 16 sticks. If you know this concept just skip the next section where it is explained in a bit more details.