2006 AMC 12B Problem 18
Problem 18 of 25IntermediateGeometryNumber TheoryCounting & Probability
An object in the plane moves from one lattice point to another. At each step, the object may move one unit to the right, one unit to the left, one unit up, or one unit down. If the object starts at the origin and takes a ten-step path, how many different points could be the final point?
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Solution
Each step changes the coordinate sum by so after steps the endpoint has even, and Any such point is reachable: walk steps to it, then use the remaining even number of steps going out and back.
The reachable points lie on the lines for Each such line meets the diamond in exactly lattice points.
With lines and points each, there are points.
Thus, the correct answer is B.