You can put this solution on YOUR website! The 1st round is the tough one.
There will be some matches with some players going on to the next round without playing (byes)
The number of people playing must remain at 78 while the number of matches plus byes must equal 64. Let m=number of matches and b=number of byes.
2m+b=78
m+b=64
--------subtract
m=14
b=50
.
Int the 1st round there are 14 matches.
then:
32
16
08
04
02
01
---
63
.
63 + 14 = 77 matches total were played.
.
Ed
You can put this solution on YOUR website! There is no need for algebra or great thought if you want an answer to this problem. If we take the number of players as X then the answer to the question will always be x-1
So 78 players enter and the answer is 77
If 245 enter the answer is 244.
Think about it from the other end of things rather than from the number of entrants. There can only be 1 Champion so working backwards means x-1 is the answer. Simples!
I appreciate you may have to show algebra to gain marks but therein lies the problem with education. We want to make a mountain out of a molehill, this question is so easy it's crazy but educators want to make it harder!
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