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imc

geometry intermediate

Problem

The regular octagon has its center at . Each of the vertices and the center are to be associated with one of the digits through , with each digit used once, in such a way that the sums of the numbers on the lines , , , and are all equal. In how many ways can this be done?
problem
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
Solution
First of all, note that must be , , or to preserve symmetry, since the sum of 1 to 9 is 45, and we need the remaining 8 to be divisible by 4 (otherwise we will have uneven sums). So, we have: We also notice that . WLOG, assume that . Thus the pairs of vertices must be and , and , and , and and . There are ways to assign these to the vertices. Furthermore, there are ways to switch them (i.e. do instead of ). Thus, there are ways for each possible J value. There are possible J values that still preserve symmetry:
Final answer
C