Correct solutions were received from Paul Botham, Philippe Fondanaiche, Juan Carlos Marivela, Al Zimmermann, and the proposer, Nancy Schwarzkopf.
Let rn be the number of regions in a subdivided n-gon. Label the vertices of an (n+1)-gon, P, consecutively 1,2,...,n+1. The n-gon formed by the vertices 1,...,n, say Q, and its diagonals form rn regions. When we draw in the n-2 diagonals from the vertex labeled n+1 we create n-1 new regions in the triangle with vertices 1,n,n+1.
Next,
a diagonal joining n+1 to j, for
.
This gives the recursion relation rn =
+ n-1
rn
= .
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