Triangles in a heptagon

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Triangles in a heptagon

by rahulvsd » Mon Mar 05, 2012 6:46 am
How many triangles can be inscribed in the heptagon pictured, where the three vertices of the triangle are also vertices of the heptagon?

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A.9 B. 21 C. 35 D. 140 E. 210.

[spoiler]Ans: C. Grockit solves this by using combinations method and I agree with this solution. If the question mentions non-overlapping triangle, will the answer be 5. By using formula (n-2) *180, so here it will be 5 * 180 so 5 triangles, is this approach correct? And if the question was rephrased as number of triangles (does not mention non - overlapping) in a hexagon by the combination method answer will be 6 factorial / 3 factorial * 3 factorial. So 20 triangles, is this correct too? please confirm... [/spoiler]

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by pemdas » Mon Mar 05, 2012 10:58 am
i selected this option --> one vertice needs two more vertices to form triangle and in total three vertices will be required out of seven, 7C3=35

c
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by Jim@StratusPrep » Mon Mar 05, 2012 11:14 am
35 is the answer: 7*6*5/3!
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by Scott@TargetTestPrep » Thu Jan 17, 2019 5:47 pm
rahulvsd wrote:How many triangles can be inscribed in the heptagon pictured, where the three vertices of the triangle are also vertices of the heptagon?

Image

A.9 B. 21 C. 35 D. 140 E. 210.
Since there are 7 vertices on the heptagon and any of its 3 vertices will form a triangle, then the number of possible triangles is 7C3 = 7!/(3! x 4!) = (7 x 6 x 5)/3! = (7 x 6 x 5)/(3 x 2) = 35.

Answer: C

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