Math Problem Statement

our people in a room. Each shakes hands with each of the others once. How many handshakes are there?

Solution

The problem involves finding the number of handshakes between people where each person shakes hands with every other person exactly once.

To solve this, we use the concept of combinations. If there are nn people, each person can shake hands with n1n-1 others, but we must avoid counting the same handshake twice. Therefore, the number of handshakes is given by the combination formula:

Number of handshakes=(n2)=n(n1)2\text{Number of handshakes} = \binom{n}{2} = \frac{n(n-1)}{2}

In this case, there are 4 people:

Number of handshakes=(42)=4(41)2=4×32=6\text{Number of handshakes} = \binom{4}{2} = \frac{4(4-1)}{2} = \frac{4 \times 3}{2} = 6

So, there are 6 handshakes.

Would you like further details or have any questions?

Here are 5 related questions to explore:

  1. How many handshakes would there be if there were 5 people in the room?
  2. What is the number of handshakes if there are 10 people?
  3. How does the formula for combinations apply to this handshake problem?
  4. What if each person in the room shakes hands twice with every other person? How does that change the result?
  5. How would you approach this problem if there were 100 people?

Tip: The combination formula (nr)\binom{n}{r} is useful in counting problems where order does not matter, like this handshake scenario.

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Math Problem Analysis

Mathematical Concepts

Combinatorics
Counting Problems

Formulas

Combination formula: C(n, 2) = n(n-1)/2

Theorems

Combinatorial Selection Theorem

Suitable Grade Level

Grades 6-8