Difference between revisions of "2002 AMC 12B Problems/Problem 14"

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{{duplicate|[[2002 AMC 12B Problems|2002 AMC 12B #14]] and [[2002 AMC 10B Problems|2002 AMC 10B #18]]}}
 
{{duplicate|[[2002 AMC 12B Problems|2002 AMC 12B #14]] and [[2002 AMC 10B Problems|2002 AMC 10B #18]]}}
 
== Problem ==
 
== Problem ==
Four distinct [[circle]]s are drawn in a [[plane]]. What is the maximum number of points where at least two of the circles intersect?
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<!-- don't remove the following tag, for PoTW on the Wiki front page--><onlyinclude>Four distinct [[circle]]s are drawn in a [[plane]]. What is the maximum number of points where at least two of the circles intersect?<!-- don't remove the following tag, for PoTW on the Wiki front page--></onlyinclude>
  
 
<math>\mathrm{(A)}\ 8
 
<math>\mathrm{(A)}\ 8

Revision as of 18:52, 27 March 2015

The following problem is from both the 2002 AMC 12B #14 and 2002 AMC 10B #18, so both problems redirect to this page.

Problem

Four distinct circles are drawn in a plane. What is the maximum number of points where at least two of the circles intersect?

$\mathrm{(A)}\ 8 \qquad\mathrm{(B)}\ 9 \qquad\mathrm{(C)}\ 10 \qquad\mathrm{(D)}\ 12 \qquad\mathrm{(E)}\ 16$

Solution

For any given pair of circles, they can intersect at most $2$ times. Since there are ${4\choose 2} = 6$ pairs of circles, the maximum number of possible intersections is $6 \cdot 2 = 12$. We can construct such a situation as below, so the answer is $\boxed{\mathrm{(D)}\ 12}$.

2002 12B AMC-14.png

See also

2002 AMC 10B (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 17
Followed by
Problem 19
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
All AMC 10 Problems and Solutions
2002 AMC 12B (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 13
Followed by
Problem 15
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
All AMC 12 Problems and Solutions

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