Dividing a circle into areas lines (there are two points on one side and one on the other). So the recurrence can be expressed as which can be easily reduced to using the sums of the first formula_3 natural numbers and the first formula_3 squares, this combines to Finally which yields The lemma asserts that the number of regions is maximal if all "inner" intersections of chords are simple (exactly two chords pass through each point of intersection in the interior). This will be the case if the points on the circle are chosen "in general position". Under this assumption of "generic intersection", the number
Five points determine a conic Five points determine a conic In Euclidean and projective geometry, just as two (distinct) points determine a line (a degree-1 plane curve), five points determine a conic (a degree-2 plane curve). There are additional subtleties for conics that do not exist for lines, and thus the statement and its proof for conics are both more technical than for lines. Formally, given any five points in the plane in general linear position, meaning no three collinear, there is a unique conic passing through them, which will be non-degenerate; this is true over both the Euclidean plane and any pappian projective plane.