Problem:
Consider a -gon inscribed in a circle and a triangulation of it with diagonals intersecting only at vertices. What is the smallest possible number of obtuse triangles in the triangulation?
Harvard-MIT Mathematics Tournament
Solution
Solution:
By induction, it follows easily that any triangulation of an -gon inscribed in a circle has triangles. A triangle is obtuse unless it contains the center of the circle in its interior (in which case it is acute) or on one of its edges (in which case it is right). It is then clear that there are at most non-obtuse triangles, and is achieved when the center of the circle is on one of the diagonals of the triangulation. So the minimum number of obtuse triangles is .
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