01 In a square root spiral, on what basis is the direction of every new 1-unit segment decided?
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: A. It must be perpendicular to the previous hypotenuse
Explanation: A square-root spiral is built by repeatedly forming a right triangle. At each stage, the existing hypotenuse becomes one leg of the next right triangle, and a segment of length 1 is drawn perpendicular to it. This perpendicularity is essential because it allows the Pythagorean theorem to produce the next length: if the current hypotenuse is √n, the next one has square equal to n + 1², or n + 1. Thus the direction is determined by the previous hypotenuse, not by the page or the origin. Option A is correct. A segment need not remain horizontal, so B is false; it need not point toward the origin, so C is false; and a parallel segment would not create the required right triangle, so D is false.