Seinfeld: The Handshakes
Algebra
Level
2
At a party, everyone shook hands with everybody else.
There were 66 handshakes.
How many people were at the party?
10 people
12 people
66 people
33 people
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1 solution
12
In general, with n+1 people, the number of handshakes is the sum of the first n consecutive numbers: 1+2+3+ ... + n.
Since this sum is n(n+1)/2, we need to solve the equation n(n+1)/2 = 66.
This is the quadratic equation n2+ n -132 = 0. Solving for n, we obtain 11 as the answer and deduce that there were 12 people at the party.
Since 66 is a relatively small number, you can also solve this problem with a hand calculator. Add 1 + 2 = + 3 = +... etc. until the total is 66. The last number that you entered (11) is n.