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2007 AMC 12A Problems/Problem 8

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Problem

A star-polygon is drawn on a clock face by drawing a chord from each number to the fifth number counted clockwise from that number. That is, chords are drawn from 12 to 5, from 5 to 10, from 10 to 3, and so on, ending back at 12. What is the degree measure of the angle at each vertex in the star polygon?

\mathrm{(A)}\ 20\qquad \mathrm{(B)}\ 24\qquad \mathrm{(C)}\ 30\qquad \mathrm{(D)}\ 36\qquad \mathrm{(E)}\ 60

Solution

Image:2007_AMC12A-8.png

We look at the angle between 12, 5, and 10. It subtends \displaystyle \frac 16 of the circle, or 60 degrees (or you can see that the arc is \frac 23 of the right angle). Thus, the angle at each vertex is an inscribed angle subtending 60 degrees, making the answer \frac 1260 = 30^{\circ} \Longrightarrow \mathrm{(C)}

See also

2007 AMC 12A (ProblemsResources)
Preceded by
Problem 7
Followed by
Problem 9
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Want to learn how to tackle those tough MATHCOUNTS and AMC counting and probability problems? Check out Art of Problem Solving's Introduction to Counting & Probability by David Patrick.
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