1. There are n points on a circle.

If all points are connected with straight lines, then show that the
maximum number of interceptions is
n(n 1)(n 2)(n 3)
24
.
Solution
A circle with n points (not necessary to be 19 as in the following gure) is drawn as shown in the following
gure. Lines between points are draws starting from point P
1
. Notice the lines between any two adjacent
points are omitted because there are not any interceptions among those lines.
For point P
1
, there are n 3 lines. We then draw lines from point p
2
to other points. The rst produces
n 1 interceptions. The second one produces n 2 interceptions. Notice that any line drawn from P
i
is
connected to P
n
, P
n1
, . . . , P
i+2
. See gures below
We can see that there is one point P
1
below the line P
2
P
n
, hence each point above the line is connected
to P
1
with one line. Therefore the number of interceptions is
1 [(n 3) + (n 4) + (n 5) + . . . + 3 + 2 + 1].
Now we draw lines from P
3
to the those unconnected points each of which connects to P
1
and P
2
with 2
lines, we have the number of interceptions
2 [(n 4) + . . . + 3 + 2 + 1].
Email: tedwong314@yahoo.com.au
We keep on connecting points with this fashion until the last one. Obviously the last point connecting
to P
n
is P
n2
. The numbers of interceptions for the last two are
(n 4)(2 + 1)
and
(n 3)(1).
By using the sum of arithmetic series, the total number of interceptions is
1
(n 2)(n 3)
2
+ 2
(n 3)(n 4)
2
+ 3
(n 4)(n 5)
2
+ . . .
+ (n 5)
4 3
2
+ (n 4)
3 2
2
+ (n 3)
2 1
2
.
We have two cases, that (n 3) is even and odd.
Email: tedwong314@yahoo.com.au
1. Case (n 3) is even
The sum is
S
n
=
1
2
_
1(n 2)(n 3) + 2(n 3)(n 4) + 3(n 4)(n 5) + . . .
+
_
n 3
2
__
n
n 3
2
1
__
n
n 3
2
2
_
+
_
n 3
2
+ 1
__
n
n 3
2
2
__
n
n 3
2
3
_
+ . . .
+ (n 5)4 3 + (n 4)3 2 + (n 3)2 1
_
=
1
2
_
1(n 2)(n 3) + 2(n 3)(n 4) + 3(n 4)(n 5) + . . .
+
_
n 3
2
__
n 3
2
+ 2
__
n 3
2
+ 1
_
+
_
n 3
2
+ 1
__
n 3
2
+ 1
__
n 3
2
_
+ . . .
+ (n 5)4 3 + (n 4)3 2 + (n 3)2 1
_
We add the rst one to the last one, the second to the last second, and so on. Then the sum
S
n
=
1
2
_
[1(n 2)(n 3) + (n 3)2 1] + [2(n 3)(n 4) + (n 4)3 2]
+ [3(n 4)(n 5) + (n 5)4 3] + . . .
+
_
n 3
2
__
n 3
2
+ 2
__
n 3
2
+ 1
_
+
_
n 3
2
+ 1
__
n 3
2
+ 1
__
n 3
2
_
_
=
1
2
_
(n 3)n + 2(n 4)n + 3(n 5)n + . . . +
__
n 3
2
__
n 3
2
+ 1
_
n
_
. .
n3
2
terms
_
=
n
2
_
1(n 3) + 2(n 4) + 3(n 5) + . . . +
_
n 3
2
__
n 3
2
+ 1
_
. .
n3
2
terms
_
To calculate this, we construct the following identities
Email: tedwong314@yahoo.com.au
(1 + n 3)
2
= 1
2
+ 2 1(n 3) + (n 3)
2
(2 + n 4)
2
= 2
2
+ 2 2(n 4) + (n 4)
2
. . . = . . .
_
n 3
2
+
n 3
2
+ 1
_
2
=
_
n 3
2
_
2
+ 2
_
n 3
2
__
n 3
2
+ 1
_
+
_
n 3
2
+ 1
_
2
Summing up all identities, then
_
n 3
2
_
(n 2)
2
=
n3

t=1
t
2
+ 2
_
1(n 3) + 2(n 4) + . . . +
_
n 3
2
__
n 3
2
+ 1
__
.
Thus
1(n 3) + 2(n 4) + . . . +
_
n 3
2
__
n 3
2
+ 1
_
=
1
2
__
n 3
2
_
(n 2)
2

1
6
(n 3)(n 2)(2n 5)
_
=
(n 3)(n 2)
12
(3n 6 2n + 5)
=
(n 3)(n 2)(n 1)
12
Therefore for even (n 3), we have
S
n
=
n(n 1)(n 2)(n 3)
24
.
Email: tedwong314@yahoo.com.au
2. Case (n 3) is odd
The sum is
S
n
=
1
2
_
1(n 2)(n 3) + 2(n 3)(n 4) + 3(n 4)(n 5) + . . .
+
_
n 4
2
__
n
n 4
2
1
__
n
n 4
2
2
_
+
_
n 4
2
+ 1
__
n
n 4
2
2
__
n
n 4
2
3
_
+
_
n 4
2
+ 2
__
n
n 4
2
3
__
n
n 4
2
4
_
+ . . .
+ (n 5)4 3 + (n 4)3 2 + (n 3)2 1
_
=
1
2
_
1(n 2)(n 3) + 2(n 3)(n 4) + 3(n 4)(n 5) + . . .
+
_
n 4
2
__
n 4
2
+ 3
__
n 4
2
+ 2
_
+
_
n 4
2
+ 1
__
n 4
2
+ 2
__
n 4
2
+ 1
_
+
_
n 4
2
+ 2
__
n 4
2
+ 1
__
n 4
2
_
+ . . .
+ (n 5)4 3 + (n 4)3 2 + (n 3)2 1
_
Again we add the last term to the rst one, the last second to the second and so on except the
middle term n
_
n4
2
+ 1
_ _
n4
2
+ 2
_ _
n4
2
+ 1
_
.
S
n
=
1
2
_
[1(n 2)(n 3) + (n 3)2 1] + [2(n 3)(n 4) + (n 4)3 2]
+ [3(n 4)(n 5) + (n 5)4 3] + . . .
+
_
_
n 4
2
__
n 4
2
+ 3
__
n 4
2
+ 2
_
+
_
n 4
2
+ 2
__
n 4
2
+ 1
__
n 4
2
_
_
+
_
n 4
2
+ 1
__
n 4
2
+ 2
__
n 4
2
+ 1
_
_
=
1
2
_
(n 3)n + 2(n 4)n + 3(n 5)n + . . . +
_
n 4
2
__
n 4
2
+ 2
_
n
. .
n4
2
terms
+
_
n
2
_
_
n 4
2
+ 1
_
2 _
Email: tedwong314@yahoo.com.au
=
n
2
_
1(n 3) + 2(n 4) + 3(n 5) + . . . +
_
n 4
2
__
n 4
2
+ 2
_
. .
n4
2
terms
+
_
1
2
__
n 2
2
_
2 _
Using the same technique as in the previous case, we construct the following identities
(1 + n 3)
2
= 1
2
+ 2 1(n 3) + (n 3)
2
(2 + n 4)
2
= 2
2
+ 2 2(n 4) + (n 4)
2
. . . = . . .
_
n 4
2
+
n 4
2
+ 2
_
2
=
_
n 4
2
_
2
+ 2
_
n 4
2
__
n 4
2
+ 2
_
+
_
n 4
2
+ 2
_
2
Summing up all identities, noting that one square term (
n4
2
+ 1)
2
= (
n2
2
)
2
is missing, then
_
n 4
2
_
(n 2)
2
=
n3

t=1
t
2

_
n 2
2
_
2
+ 2
_
1(n 3) + 2(n 4) + . . . +
_
n 4
2
__
n 4
2
+ 2
__
.
Thus
1(n 3) + 2(n 4) + . . . +
_
n 4
2
__
n 4
2
+ 2
_
=
1
2
_
_
n 4
2
_
(n 2)
2

1
6
(n 3)(n 2)(2n 5) +
_
n 2
2
_
2
_
=
n 2
24
[6(n 4)(n 2) 2(n 3)(2n 5) + 3(n 2)]
=
n 2
24
(6n
2
36n + 48 4n
2
+ 22n 30 + 3n 6)
=
n 2
24
(2n
2
11n + 12)
=
(n 2)(2n 3)(n 4)
24
Therefore for odd (n 3), we have
S
n
=
n
2
_
_
1
2
__
n 2
2
_
2
+
(n 2)(2n 3)(n 4)
24
_
=
n(n 2)
48
[3(n 2) + (2n 3)(n 4)]
=
n(n 2)
48
(3n 6 + 2n
2
11n + 12)
Email: tedwong314@yahoo.com.au
=
n(n 2)
48
(2n
2
8n + 6)
=
n(n 2)
24
(n
2
4n + 3)
=
n(n 1)(n 2)(n 3)
24
This is the same as the case when (n 3) is even. Therefore the formula is evident.
Email: tedwong314@yahoo.com.au