Question 840535: 1. If two people shake hands, how many handshakes take place?
2. If three people shake hands with one another exactly once, how many handshakes take place?
3. If four people shake hands with one another exactly once, how many handshakes take place?
4. If five people shake hands with one another exactly once, how many handshakes take place?
Continue this pattern until you have sufficient data to allow you to answer what will happen if there are n people.
Answer by ewatrrr(24785)   (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Hi,
Suppose there are 6 people in a room. Each of those 6 would shake hands with 5 others.
Thus, we have 6 * 5. However, there would be handshakes between each pair twice.
we must divide by two, giving us the formula:
6*5/2 or, generalized to n(n-1)/2.
___1___2___3__4__5__6
1|1,1 1,2 1,3 etc
2|2,1 etc
3|3,1 _etc
4|
5|
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