MCQEasyJEE 2025Applications of P&C

JEE Mathematics 2025 Question with Solution

Line L1L_1 of slope 22 and line L2L_2 of slope 12\frac{1}{2} intersect at the origin OO. In the first quadrant, P1,P2,,P12P_1, P_2, \dots, P_{12} are 1212 points on line L1L_1 and Q1,Q2,,Q9Q_1, Q_2, \dots, Q_9 are 99 points on line L2L_2. Then the total number of triangles that can be formed having vertices at three of the 2222 points OO, P1,P2,,P12P_1, P_2, \dots, P_{12}, Q1,Q2,,Q9Q_1, Q_2, \dots, Q_9, is:

  • A

    10801080

  • B

    11341134

  • C

    10261026

  • D

    11881188

Answer

Correct answer:B

Step-by-step solution

Standard Method

Given: There are 1212 points on line L1L_1, 99 points on line L2L_2, and both lines pass through the origin OO.

Find: The total number of triangles formed by choosing any 33 of the 2222 given points.

First count all possible selections of 33 points from 2222 points:

(223)=22×21×203×2×1=1540\binom{22}{3} = \frac{22 \times 21 \times 20}{3 \times 2 \times 1} = 1540

Now exclude all collinear selections.

On line L1L_1, the 1212 points P1,P2,,P12P_1, P_2, \ldots, P_{12} are collinear, so:

(123)=220\binom{12}{3} = 220

On line L2L_2, the 99 points Q1,Q2,,Q9Q_1, Q_2, \ldots, Q_9 are collinear, so:

(93)=84\binom{9}{3} = 84

Also, the origin OO lies on both lines.

So the selections (O,Pi,Pj)\left(O, P_i, P_j\right) are collinear on L1L_1:

(122)=66\binom{12}{2} = 66

And the selections (O,Qk,Ql)\left(O, Q_k, Q_l\right) are collinear on L2L_2:

(92)=36\binom{9}{2} = 36

Hence total collinear selections are:

220+84+66+36=406220 + 84 + 66 + 36 = 406

Therefore, the number of triangles is:

1540406=11341540 - 406 = 1134

Therefore, the total number of triangles formed is 11341134. The correct option is B.

Casewise Counting

Given: Points lie on two lines through the origin: 1212 points on L1L_1, 99 points on L2L_2, and the origin OO.

Find: The number of non-collinear triples.

Count directly by valid triangle types.

Case 1: Choose 22 points from L1L_1 and 11 point from L2L_2:

(122)(91)=66×9=594\binom{12}{2}\binom{9}{1} = 66 \times 9 = 594

Case 2: Choose 11 point from L1L_1 and 22 points from L2L_2:

(121)(92)=12×36=432\binom{12}{1}\binom{9}{2} = 12 \times 36 = 432

Case 3: Choose the origin OO, 11 point from L1L_1, and 11 point from L2L_2:

(121)(91)=12×9=108\binom{12}{1}\binom{9}{1} = 12 \times 9 = 108

Adding all valid cases:

594+432+108=1134594 + 432 + 108 = 1134

Therefore, the total number of triangles is 11341134, so the correct option is B.

Common mistakes

  • Counting all (223)\binom{22}{3} selections as triangles is incorrect because three chosen points can be collinear. Subtract the collinear triples lying on L1L_1 and L2L_2.

  • Ignoring the origin OO in collinear cases is wrong. Since OO lies on both lines, triples of the form (O,Pi,Pj)\left(O, P_i, P_j\right) and (O,Qk,Ql)\left(O, Q_k, Q_l\right) must also be excluded.

  • Using only (123)\binom{12}{3} and (93)\binom{9}{3} as collinear cases is incomplete. Those count triples entirely on one line, but they do not include the additional collinear triples formed with OO and two points from the same line.

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