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The large square has area 196 = 14^2, so it has side-length 14.
The ratio of the areas of the inner squares is 4 : 1, so the ratio of their side-lengths is 2 : 1.
Let the side-length of the larger inner square be 2x, so that of the smaller is x.
The figure is symmetric about the diagonal AC and so the overlap of the two inner squares is also a square which therefore has side-length 1.
Thus the vertical height can be written as x + 2x - 1.
Hence 3x - 1 = 14 and so x = 5.
So the small shaded square has an area of 25 and the large shaded square has an area of 100.
Therefore, the total shaded area = 25 + 100 - 1 = 124
Note also that the two unshaded rectangles have side-lengths of 14 - 2x and 14 - x ; that is 4 and 9.
So the total unshaded area is 36 \times 2 = 72, and therefore the total shaded area is 196-72=124
An investigation involving adding and subtracting sets of consecutive numbers. Lots to find out, lots to explore.
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