Problem of the Month for September, 2005

Problem:

A 12 inch long wire is to be divided into a number of parts and from these you want to construct the frame (that is, the edges) of a cube 1 inch on a side. Can you do it with three pieces? If so, explain how. If not, explain why not.

Possible generalizations you might consider:

What about two pieces? What about four pieces? What about other objects (for example, taking a 8 inch long wire and dividing it into pieces to form a pyramid.will three pieces work here? Two? Four?)