1956 AHSME Problems/Problem 5

Problem #5

A nickel is placed on a table. The number of nickels which can be placed around it, each tangent to it and to two others is:

$\textbf{(A)}\ 4 \qquad\textbf{(B)}\ 5 \qquad\textbf{(C)}\ 6 \qquad\textbf{(D)}\ 8 \qquad\textbf{(E)}\ 12$

Arrange the nickels in a hexagonal fashion. One can see that one can only place $\boxed{\textbf{(C)} \quad 6}$ nickels around the central nickel.

1956 AHSME (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
Preceded by Problem 4	Followed by Problem 6
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