Let $G$ a simple $2$-connected planar graph so that all vertices are incident with the infinite region. Suppose that every bounded region of $G$ has length $3$ (so is a cycle of length $3$). Let $k$ be the number of vertices of degree $2$ in $G$, and let $r$ be the number of regions of $G$ sharing no edges with the infinite region.
If $|V(G)| > 3$, show that \begin{align} k = r + 2 \end{align} I'm trying to figure out how to go about this. So, I think that these could be of help:
- $|E|−|V|=|R|−2$
- Every edge bounds two regions
- If the region shares no edge with the infinite region, then it only shares edges with other regions of length 3.
- $\sum\deg(v)=2|E(G)|$
- $12≤ \sum[6−\deg(v)]$ so $\sum\deg(v)≤6|V(G)|−12$
- for $2$-connected graphs, every vertex has $\deg(v)≥2$
Any ideas?