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Printjmc
geometry senior
Problem
Two nonadjacent vertices of a rectangle are and and the other two vertices have integer coordinates. How many rectangles satisfy these conditions?
Solution
The diagonals of a rectangle are of the same length and bisect each other. The diagonal determined by the two given points has its midpoint at and it has length Thus, the other diagonal must have its midpoint at and also have length This means that the other two vertices of the rectangle must lie on the circle The number of lattice points (points with integer coordinates) on this circle is : we have These points pair up to give possible diagonals, of which is the given diagonal. Therefore, there are choices for the other diagonal, which uniquely determines a rectangle. Thus there are possible rectangles.
Final answer
5