Difference between revisions of "2014 AIME I Problems/Problem 5"

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== Problem 5 ==
 
== Problem 5 ==
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Let the set <math>S = \{P_1, P_2, \dots, P_{12}\}</math> consist of the twelve vertices of a regular <math>12</math>-gon. A subset <math>Q</math> of <math>S</math> is called "communal" if there is a circle such that all points of <math>Q</math> are inside the circle, and all points of <math>S</math> not in <math>Q</math> are outside of the circle. How many communal subsets are there? (Note that the empty set is a communal subset.)
  
 
== Solution ==
 
== Solution ==
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By looking at the problem and drawing a few pictures, it quickly becomes obvious that one cannot draw a circle that covers <math>2</math> disjoint areas of the <math>12</math>-gon without including all the vertices in between those areas. In other words, in order for a subset to be communal, all the vertices in the subset must be adjacent to one another. We now count the number of ways to select a row of adjacent vertices. We notice that for any subset size between <math>1</math> and <math>11</math>, there are <math>12</math> possible subsets like this (this is true because we can pick any of the <math>12</math> vertices as a "starting" vertex, include some number of vertices counterclockwise from that vertex, and generate all possible configurations). However, we also have to include the set of all <math>12</math> vertices, as well as the empty set. Thus, the total number is <math>12\cdot11 + 2 = \boxed{134}</math>.
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== See also ==
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{{AIME box|year=2014|n=I|num-b=4|num-a=6}}
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{{MAA Notice}}

Latest revision as of 22:18, 15 January 2022

Problem 5

Let the set $S = \{P_1, P_2, \dots, P_{12}\}$ consist of the twelve vertices of a regular $12$-gon. A subset $Q$ of $S$ is called "communal" if there is a circle such that all points of $Q$ are inside the circle, and all points of $S$ not in $Q$ are outside of the circle. How many communal subsets are there? (Note that the empty set is a communal subset.)

Solution

By looking at the problem and drawing a few pictures, it quickly becomes obvious that one cannot draw a circle that covers $2$ disjoint areas of the $12$-gon without including all the vertices in between those areas. In other words, in order for a subset to be communal, all the vertices in the subset must be adjacent to one another. We now count the number of ways to select a row of adjacent vertices. We notice that for any subset size between $1$ and $11$, there are $12$ possible subsets like this (this is true because we can pick any of the $12$ vertices as a "starting" vertex, include some number of vertices counterclockwise from that vertex, and generate all possible configurations). However, we also have to include the set of all $12$ vertices, as well as the empty set. Thus, the total number is $12\cdot11 + 2 = \boxed{134}$.

See also

2014 AIME I (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 4
Followed by
Problem 6
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
All AIME Problems and Solutions

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