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CEMC Hypatia, 2026

Geometry Difficulty 2.0 Junior Prove it Canada

If points are collinear, then they lie on the same
straight line.

If the points A(1,2)A(1,2), B(2,5)B(2,5) and C(3,c)C(3,c) are collinear, what is the value
of cc?
Three distinct points D(0,7)D(0,7), EE and F(14,0)F(14,0) are collinear. If the coordinates
of point EE are positive integers,
how many such points are possible?
Determine the value of nn so that the points P(15,12)P(15,12), Q(6,n−4)Q(6,n-4) and R(18,n)R(18,n) are collinear.

Solution

Since AA, BB and CC are collinear, segments ABAB and ACAC (and BCBC) have the same slope.

The slope of segment ABAB is 5−22−1=3\dfrac{5-2}{2-1} = 3. The slope of
segment ACAC is c−23−1=c−22\dfrac{c-2}{3-1} = \dfrac{c-2}{2}.

Therefore, we have that 3=c−223 = \dfrac{c-2}{2}. Solving for cc gives us that c=8c=8.
Since segment DFDF has slope
7−00−14=−12\dfrac{7-0}{0-14} = - \dfrac{1}{2}
and yy-intercept 77, the equation of the line

through points DD and FF is y=−12x+7y=-\dfrac{1}{2}x + 7.

The coordinates (x,y)(x,y) of EE must be positive integers and EE must lie on the line y=−12x+7y=-\dfrac{1}{2}x + 7. When x≥14x \geq 14 we have that y≤0y \leq 0, and when x lt; 14\text{x lt; 14} we have that y gt;0\text{y gt;0}. Therefore xx and yy are both positive exactly when 0 lt;x lt;14\text{0 lt;x lt;14}. Also, yy is an integer exactly when xx is even.

Therefore the number of possible points EE is the number of integers 0 lt; x lt; 14\text{0 lt; x lt; 14} such that xx is even. There are 66 such integers which give the following
66 possibilities for EE: (2,6)(2,6), (4,5)(4,5), (6,4)(6,4), (8,3)(8,3), (10,2)(10,2), and (12,1)(12,1).
The slope of segment PQPQ is
n−4−126−15=n−16−9\dfrac{n-4-12}{6-15}=\dfrac{n-16}{-9}.

The slope of segment PRPR is n−1218−15=n−123\dfrac{n-12}{18-15}=\dfrac{n-12}{3}.

Therefore, points PP, QQ and RR are collinear exactly when n−16−9=n−123\dfrac{n-16}{-9}=\dfrac{n-12}{3}. This is
equivalent to 3n−48=−9n+1083n-48 = -9n+108,
which is equivalent to 12n=15612n=156.

Therefore, the value of nn that
makes PP, QQ and RR collinear is n=15612=13n=\dfrac{156}{12}=13.

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Source: CEMC, University of Waterloo, licensed CC-BY-NC-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.