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2020 AMC 12A Problems/Problem 6

Problem

In the plane figure shown below, $3$ of the unit squares have been shaded. What is the least number of additional unit squares that must be shaded so that the resulting figure has two lines of symmetry?

[asy] import olympiad; unitsize(25); filldraw((1,3)--(1,4)--(2,4)--(2,3)--cycle, gray(0.7)); filldraw((2,1)--(2,2)--(3,2)--(3,1)--cycle, gray(0.7)); filldraw((4,0)--(5,0)--(5,1)--(4,1)--cycle, gray(0.7)); for (int i = 0; i < 5; ++i) { for (int j = 0; j < 6; ++j) { pair A = (j,i); } } for (int i = 0; i < 5; ++i) { for (int j = 0; j < 6; ++j) { if (j != 5) { draw((j,i)--(j+1,i)); } if (i != 4) { draw((j,i)--(j,i+1)); } } } [/asy]

$\textbf{(A) } 4 \qquad \textbf{(B) } 5 \qquad \textbf{(C) } 6 \qquad \textbf{(D) } 7 \qquad \textbf{(E) } 8$

Solution 1 (Graphical)

The two lines of symmetry must be horizontally and vertically through the middle. We can then fill the boxes in like so:

[asy] import olympiad; unitsize(25); filldraw((1,3)--(1,4)--(2,4)--(2,3)--cycle, gray(0.7)); filldraw((0,3)--(0,4)--(1,4)--(1,3)--cycle, gray(0.9)); filldraw((3,3)--(3,4)--(4,4)--(4,3)--cycle, gray(0.9)); filldraw((4,3)--(4,4)--(5,4)--(5,3)--cycle, gray(0.9)); filldraw((2,2)--(2,3)--(3,3)--(3,2)--cycle, gray(0.9)); filldraw((2,1)--(2,2)--(3,2)--(3,1)--cycle, gray(0.7)); filldraw((3,0)--(4,0)--(4,1)--(3,1)--cycle, gray(0.9)); filldraw((1,0)--(2,0)--(2,1)--(1,1)--cycle, gray(0.9)); filldraw((4,0)--(5,0)--(5,1)--(4,1)--cycle, gray(0.7)); filldraw((0,0)--(1,0)--(1,1)--(0,1)--cycle, gray(0.9)); for (int i = 0; i < 5; ++i) { for (int j = 0; j < 6; ++j) { pair A = (j,i); } } for (int i = 0; i < 5; ++i) { for (int j = 0; j < 6; ++j) { if (j != 5) { draw((j,i)--(j+1,i)); } if (i != 4) { draw((j,i)--(j,i+1)); } } } [/asy]

where the light gray boxes are the ones we have filled. Counting these, we get $\boxed{\textbf{(D) } 7}$ total boxes.

~ciceronii

Solution 2 (Analytical)

We label the three shaded unit squares $A,B,$ and $C,$ then construct the two lines of symmetry of the resulting figure, as shown below: [asy] import olympiad; unitsize(25); filldraw((1,3)--(1,4)--(2,4)--(2,3)--cycle, gray(0.7)); filldraw((2,1)--(2,2)--(3,2)--(3,1)--cycle, gray(0.7)); filldraw((4,0)--(5,0)--(5,1)--(4,1)--cycle, gray(0.7)); for (int i = 0; i < 5; ++i) { for (int j = 0; j < 6; ++j) { pair A = (j,i); } } for (int i = 0; i < 5; ++i) { for (int j = 0; j < 6; ++j) { if (j != 5) { draw((j,i)--(j+1,i)); } if (i != 4) { draw((j,i)--(j,i+1)); } } } draw((-1,2)--(6,2),linewidth(2)+red); draw((2.5,-1)--(2.5,5),linewidth(2)+red); label("$A$",(1.5,3.5)); label("$B$",(2.5,1.5)); label("$C$",(4.5,0.5)); [/asy] Note that:

  1. Since the centers of $A$ and $C$ are on neither line of symmetry, $A$ and $C$ each contribute $4$ shaded unit squares to the resulting figure.

  2. Since the center of $B$ is on one line of symmetry, $B$ contributes $2$ shaded unit squares to the resulting figure.

The shaded unit squares contributed by $A,B,$ and $C$ are all distinct, so we need to shade at least $4+4+2-3=\boxed{\textbf{(D) } 7}$ unit squares in addition, as shown below: [asy] import olympiad; unitsize(25); filldraw((1,3)--(1,4)--(2,4)--(2,3)--cycle, gray(0.7)); filldraw((0,3)--(0,4)--(1,4)--(1,3)--cycle, gray(0.9)); filldraw((3,3)--(3,4)--(4,4)--(4,3)--cycle, gray(0.9)); filldraw((4,3)--(4,4)--(5,4)--(5,3)--cycle, gray(0.9)); filldraw((2,2)--(2,3)--(3,3)--(3,2)--cycle, gray(0.9)); filldraw((2,1)--(2,2)--(3,2)--(3,1)--cycle, gray(0.7)); filldraw((3,0)--(4,0)--(4,1)--(3,1)--cycle, gray(0.9)); filldraw((1,0)--(2,0)--(2,1)--(1,1)--cycle, gray(0.9)); filldraw((4,0)--(5,0)--(5,1)--(4,1)--cycle, gray(0.7)); filldraw((0,0)--(1,0)--(1,1)--(0,1)--cycle, gray(0.9)); for (int i = 0; i < 5; ++i) { for (int j = 0; j < 6; ++j) { pair A = (j,i); } } for (int i = 0; i < 5; ++i) { for (int j = 0; j < 6; ++j) { if (j != 5) { draw((j,i)--(j+1,i)); } if (i != 4) { draw((j,i)--(j,i+1)); } } } draw((-1,2)--(6,2),linewidth(2)+red); draw((2.5,-1)--(2.5,5),linewidth(2)+red); label("$A$",(1.5,3.5)); label("$B$",(2.5,1.5)); label("$C$",(4.5,0.5)); label("$A'$",(3.5,3.5)); label("$A'$",(1.5,0.5)); label("$A'$",(3.5,0.5)); label("$B'$",(2.5,2.5)); label("$C'$",(0.5,0.5)); label("$C'$",(0.5,3.5)); label("$C'$",(4.5,3.5)); [/asy] ~MRENTHUSIASM

Video Solution

https://youtu.be/fzZzGqNqW6U

~IceMatrix

See Also

2020 AMC 12A (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
Preceded by
Problem 5 		Followed by
Problem 7
1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 • 22 • 23 • 24 • 25
All AMC 12 Problems and Solutions

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