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2019 AMC 12A Problem 8

Problem 8 of 25EasierCounting & Probability

For a set of four distinct lines in a plane, there are exactly NN distinct points that lie on two or more of the lines. What is the sum of all possible values of N?N?

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Solution

The values 00 and 11 occur when all four lines are parallel or all four are concurrent. Three parallel lines crossed by a fourth give 33 points. Three concurrent lines together with a fourth line not through their common point give 4.4. One parallel pair with no three concurrent gives 5,5, and four lines in general position give 6.6. The value 22 is impossible. Once two lines meet at P,P, a third line not through PP creates at least one new intersection; a fourth distinct line must then create another new point. If every remaining line passes through P,P, there is only one intersection point instead. Thus the achievable values are 0,1,3,4,5,6,0,1,3,4,5,6, whose sum is 19.19. Thus, the correct answer is D.

More practice

Concepts: counting intersections · casework

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