We are asked to determine how many distinct paths can be followed to spell the word "MATH" starting from the origin \( M \), given that movements are only allowed up, down, left, and right.
The points corresponding to \( A \), \( T \), and \( H \) are labeled on the xy-plane, and each of these labels corresponds to a specific set of coordinates.
### Step 1: Understanding the Problem
The problem provides:
- \( M \) is at the origin, \( (0, 0) \).
- \( A \)'s are at \( (1,0) \), \( (-1,0) \), \( (0,1) \), and \( (0,-1) \).
- \( T \)'s are at \( (2,0) \), \( (1,1) \), \( (0,2) \), \( (-1,1) \), \( (-2,0) \), \( (-1,-1) \), \( (0,-2) \), and \( (1,-1) \).
- \( H \)'s are at \( (3,0) \), \( (2,1) \), \( (1,2) \), \( (0,3) \), \( (-1,2) \), \( (-2,1) \), \( (-3,0) \), \( (-2,-1) \), \( (-1,-2) \), \( (0,-3) \), \( (1,-2) \), and \( (2,-1) \).
We need to determine how many distinct paths can be followed to spell "MATH", moving from \( M \) to an \( A \), then from \( A \) to a \( T \), and finally from \( T \) to an \( H \).
### Step 2: Movement Considerations
We are allowed to move only up, down, left, and right. This restricts the possible movements between the points labeled \( M \), \( A \), \( T \), and \( H \).
- From \( M \) at \( (0, 0) \), we can move to any of the \( A \)'s at \( (1,0) \), \( (-1,0) \), \( (0,1) \), or \( (0,-1) \).
- From each \( A \), we can move to one of the \( T \)'s that are one unit away from the \( A \)'s.
- From each \( T \), we can move to one of the \( H \)'s that are one unit away from the \( T \)'s.
### Step 3: Counting the Distinct Paths
Let’s break down the path counting process step by step.
#### Paths from \( M \) to \( A \):
From \( M = (0, 0) \), there are 4 possible \( A \)'s:
- \( A_1 = (1, 0) \)
- \( A_2 = (-1, 0) \)
- \( A_3 = (0, 1) \)
- \( A_4 = (0, -1) \)
So, there are 4 choices for the first step.
#### Paths from \( A \) to \( T \):
From each \( A \), we can move to a neighboring \( T \) that is one unit away. Let's examine the options for each \( A \):
- From \( A_1 = (1, 0) \), the possible \( T \)'s are \( (2, 0) \), \( (1, 1) \), and \( (1, -1) \). This gives 3 choices.
- From \( A_2 = (-1, 0) \), the possible \( T \)'s are \( (-2, 0) \), \( (-1, 1) \), and \( (-1, -1) \). This gives 3 choices.
- From \( A_3 = (0, 1) \), the possible \( T \)'s are \( (0, 2) \), \( (1, 1) \), and \( (-1, 1) \). This gives 3 choices.
- From \( A_4 = (0, -1) \), the possible \( T \)'s are \( (0, -2) \), \( (1, -1) \), and \( (-1, -1) \). This gives 3 choices.
Thus, for each \( A \), there are 3 possible \( T \)'s, so the total number of ways to move from \( A \) to \( T \) is \( 3 \times 4 = 12 \).
#### Paths from \( T \) to \( H \):
From each \( T \), we can move to a neighboring \( H \) that is one unit away. There are 3 neighboring \( H \)'s for each \( T \) (similarly to the calculation above). Therefore, for each \( T \), there are 3 possible \( H \)'s.
Thus, for each \( T \), there are 3 possible \( H \)'s, so the total number of ways to move from \( T \) to \( H \) is \( 3 \times 12 = 36 \).
### Step 4: Total Number of Paths
Multiplying the number of choices at each step, we get:
\[
4 \times 3 \times 3 = 36.
\]
Thus, the total number of distinct paths that can be followed to spell the word "MATH" is \( \boxed{36} \).