SOLUTION: n people shake hands at the start of a meeting. If there are 36 handshakes in all, find the value of n.

Question 762132: n people shake hands at the start of a meeting. If there are 36 handshakes in all, find the value of n.
Answer by ramkikk66(644) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Number of handshakes = the number of ways you can choose 2 people from a set of n (each set of 2 people will have 1 handshake)
In combinatorial terms this is C(n,2) or

Solving the above quadratic equation through factorization:

n = 9 or n = -8
Choosing the positive value of n, the number of people in the meeting =
:)

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