2017 AIME I Problems/Problem 1

Problem 1

Fifteen distinct points are designated on $\triangle ABC$ : the 3 vertices $A$ , $B$ , and $C$ ; $3$ other points on side $\overline{AB}$ ; $4$ other points on side $\overline{BC}$ ; and $5$ other points on side $\overline{CA}$ . Find the number of triangles with positive area whose vertices are among these $15$ points.

Solution

Every triangle is uniquely determined by 3 points. There are $\binom{15}{3}=455$ ways to choose 3 points, but that counts the degenerate triangles formed by choosing three points on a line. There are $\binom{5}{3}$ invalid cases on segment $AB$ , $\binom{6}{3}$ invalid cases on segment $BC$ , and $\binom{7}{3}$ invalid cases on segment $CA$ for a total of $65$ invalid cases. The answer is thus $455-65=\boxed{390}$ .

2017 AIME I (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
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2017 AIME I Problems/Problem 1

Problem 1

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