A triangle in the coordinate plane is formed by the axes and the line 3x + 5y = 30. How many points with integer coordinates lie inside the triangle?
First plot it out on the coordinate plane. The line 3x + 5y = 30 has the points (0, 6) and (10, 0). Because it's formed by the axes, it's a right triangle with height 6 and base 10.
Now we can use Pick's Theorem.
\(A=I+\frac{1}{2}B-1\)
where A=area, I= Number of lattice points in the interior, and B= Number of lattice points on boundary
We already know \(A=\frac{6*10}{2}=30\)
Now for finding B, the number of lattice points on the boundary.
We know the number of lattice points on the axis: 10+6+1 (for the origin) = 17.
Now we have to find the lattice points on the hypotenuse of the triangle.
You can use this formula: For the line from (a,b) to (c,d), the number of lattice points is \(gcd(𝑐−𝑎,𝑑−𝑏)+1.\)
We plug our values in to find \(gcd(10,6)+1 = 2+1 = 3\). We have to subtract 2 because we already counted the x and y intercepts on the axis.
OR
use trial and error by putting in values for 0 < y < 6 and 0 < x < 10 into our equation 3x+5y=30. This only comes up with one value (5, 3).
So B=17+1=18
Plug our values in, solve for \(I\), and you have your answer.
\(30=I+\frac{1}{2}*18-1\)