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2013 AMC 10A Problem 25

Problem 25 of 25HarderGeometryCounting & Probability

All 2020 diagonals are drawn in a regular octagon. At how many distinct points in the interior of the octagon (not on the boundary) do two or more diagonals intersect?

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Solution

If no three diagonals were concurrent, each choice of 44 vertices would determine one interior intersection, giving (84)=70\binom84=70. The 44 long diagonals through opposite vertices all meet at the center, so the center was counted (42)=6\binom42=6 times and should be counted once. Subtract 55. There are also 88 symmetric points where 33 diagonals meet. Each was counted (32)=3\binom32=3 times and should be counted once, so subtract 8(31)=168(3-1)=16. The number of distinct interior intersection points is 70516=4970-5-16=49. Thus, A is the correct answer.

More practice

Concepts: counting intersections · regular polygon · combinations

Problem text and solution from the LIVE past-contest archive. See also the AoPS wiki page for community solutions.