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One cut halving a rectangle with a rectangular hole

Question

A small rectangle sits inside a large rectangle, in any position and orientation. With a single straight line, divide the region between them into two pieces of equal area.

Short answer

Draw the line through both rectangles' centres. Any line through a rectangle's centre splits it into two equal halves. Passing through both centres halves the large rectangle and the hole simultaneously, so the remaining region is halved too.

Adapted from Joshi, Denson & Downes, Quant Job Interview Questions and Answers, Q8.22, p.278; question and answer rewritten by SelfMadeQuant.com.

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