Problem Solving

[azajewel]

Eight people are at Melinda's party. Each person shakes hands with each of the other guests. How many handshakes are there?
a. 56 handshakes
b. 65 handshakes
c. 8 handshakes
d. none of these

I'm thinking it's as simple as 8*8=64
Can anyone confirm this?

 

[Mrspi]

Eight people are at Melinda's party. Each person shakes hands with each of the other guests. How many handshakes are there?
a. 56 handshakes
b. 65 handshakes
c. 8 handshakes
d. none of these

I'm thinking it's as simple as 8*8=64
Can anyone confirm this?

No, it's not QUITE that simple, and 64 is not the correct answer.

Some things to consider:

Does a person shake hands with himself?

If person A shakes hands with person B, is that considered as a DIFFERENT handshake than one where person B shakes hands with person A?

You may find it helpful to consider some simpler cases first....such as a group of TWO people, and then a group of THREE people. Maybe a pattern will emerge that will help you determine the number of handshakes in a larger group of people.

AND....you might try a google search for "number of handshakes"