BTGmoderatorDC wrote: ↑

Tue May 25, 2021 5:57 pm

In a plane, there are two parallel lines. One line has 5 points and another line has 4 different points. How many different triangles can we form from these 9 points?

A. 62
B. 70
C. 73
D. 86
E. 122


OA B

Source: e-GMAT

There are two ways in which we can create a triangle.
#1) Select 2 points from the 5-point line and select 1 point from the 4-point line.
#2) Select 2 points from the 4-point line and select 1 point from the 5-point line.

#1) Select 2 points from the 5-point line and select 1 point from the 4-point line.
Take this task and break it into stages.

Stage 1: Select 2 points from the 5-point line
Since the order of the 2 selected points does not matter, we can use combinations.
We can select 2 points from 5 points in 5C2 = 10 ways.

If anyone is interested, a video on calculating combinations (like 5C2) in your head can be found at the bottom of this post

Stage 2: Select 1 point from the 4-point line.
We can complete this stage in 4 ways

By the Fundamental Counting Principle (FCP) we can complete the 2 stages in (10)(4) ways (= 40 ways)

#2) Select 2 points from the 4-point line and select 1 point from the 5-point line.
Take this task and break it into stages.

Stage 1: Select 2 points from the 4-point line
We can select 2 points from 4 points in 4C2 = 6 ways.

Stage 2: Select 1 point from the 5-point line.
We can complete this stage in 5 ways

By the Fundamental Counting Principle (FCP) we can complete the 2 stages in (6)(5) ways (= 30 ways)
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So, the TOTAL number of triangles = 40 + 30
= 70

Answer: B

Cheers,
Brent