In a polygon of n sides, the difference between the number of diagonal
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17 Feb 2024, 07:15
Since there are n sides in the polygon, the number of vertices is also n. We need to find the number of diagonals that can be formed using the n vertices. Number of ways in which any 2 vertices can be selected to form a line
Cn2=n(n−1)2
Among the above number of lines, we have the n sides included; we must exclude them. Thus, the number of diagonals = Total number of lines– Number of sides
n(n−1)2−n=n(n−3)2
We know that the difference between the number of diagonals and the number of sides is 3.
Thus, we have the following 2 cases:
(A) Number of sides– Number of diagonals = 3
n−n(n−3)2=3
Expand and we have
n2−5n+6=0
Find the roots
N=2 or N=3
Since, to form a polygon, we need a minimum of 3 sides, the only value of n 3
(B) Number of diagonals–Number of sides=3
n(n−3)2−n=3
Expand and find the roots
(n−6)(n+1)=0
N=6 or N=-1
Since the number of sides must be positive, the only value of n = 6
Thus, the possible values of n are 3 OR 6.
Alternately, we can simply use the values of n given in the options to calculate the number of
diagonals and check whether the difference is 3.
For n = 3, the number of diagonals is 0 (a triangle has no diagonal) and hence, the difference is 3.
For n = 6, a hexagon, the number of diagonals = 3, and hence, the difference is also 3.
The correct answers are options A and D.