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2003 AMC 12A Problems/Problem 9

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Problem

A set S of points in the xy-plane is symmetric about the orgin, both coordinate axes, and the line y=x. If (2,3) is in S, what is the smallest number of points in S?

\mathrm{(A) \ } 1\qquad \mathrm{(B) \ } 2\qquad \mathrm{(C) \ } 4\qquad \mathrm{(D) \ } 8\qquad \mathrm{(E) \ } 16

Solution

If (2,3) is in S, then (3,2) is also, and quickly we see that every point of the form (\pm 2, \pm 3) or (\pm 3, \pm 2) must be in S. Now note that these 8 points satisfy all of the symmetry conditions. Thus the answer is D.

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