[Math] Number of new lines from joining all intersections of non parallel, non concurrent n straight lines

combinatoricsgeometry

no 3 lines are parallel, no 3 lines are concurrent.

Number of intersections : ${n \choose 2} = x$

From my perspective, answer should be ${x \choose 2} – n\cdot {n \choose 2}$
I just removed the lines formed from joining of the intersections which coincide with the orginal lines since n lines had n points each on them.

Assumimg no 3 intersections are collinear except the ones on a particular original line.

Answer in book, when converted to my form, is
${x \choose 2} – (n-2)\cdot {n \choose 2}$.

EDIT : My Mistake : There are n-1 points on each line.
(sorry, had sleep deprivation..)

Best Answer

As said before, there are $x={n \choose 2}$ intersections of the lines as long as no two are parallel and not three meet at a point. Each line has $n-1$ points on it, so there are ${n-1 \choose 2}$ pairs that give that existing line. The number of new lines is then ${x\choose 2}-n{n-1 \choose 2}$ We can rework the last term as $n{n-1 \choose 2}=\frac {n(n-1)(n-2)}2=(n-2){n \choose 2}$ so the final number becomes $${x\choose 2}-(n-2){n \choose 2}=\frac 18(n^4-6n^3+11n^2-6n)$$