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1959–1966 IMO Longlist Problems/Czechoslovakia 1

From AoPSWiki

Problem

Given \displaystyle n > 3 points in the plane such that no three of the points are collinear. Does there exist a circle passing through (at least) 3 of the given points and not containing any other of the \displaystyle n points in its interior?

Solution

The answer is yes.

Since any finite set of at least three coplanar points is contained by a convex hull with vertices in the set of points, we can select adjacent points \displaystyle A and \displaystyle B on this convex hull. Clearly all of the other \displaystyle {n-2} points will lie on the same side of the line \displaystyle AB. Of these other points, we select the point \displaystyle {C} such that the angle \displaystyle ACB is maximized. Then \displaystyle A,B,C satisfy the conditions of the problem, because if there were some point \displaystyle D inside the circle, since it would be on the same side of line \displaystyle AB as \displaystyle {C}, the angle \displaystyle ADB would be greater than the angle \displaystyle ACB, which is a contradiction. Q.E.D.

Resources

Want to learn how to tackle those tough AMC/AIME/Olympiad counting and probability problems? Check out Art of Problem Solving's Intermediate Counting & Probability by David Patrick.
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