I was given a question, and it seems pretty easy but could someone check it for me?
If there were thirty-two students in a class, and each shook hands with everyone else, how many total handshakes would there be?
I got 496, can anyone else get that?
I get 496 also.
To find the total number of handshakes, you need to use the formula for the sum of the first n natural numbers, which is (n * (n - 1)) / 2.
In this case, the number of students is 32. So, you plug that value into the formula:
(32 * (32 - 1)) / 2 = (32 * 31) / 2 = 992 / 2 = 496
Therefore, your answer is correct. There would be a total of 496 handshakes in the class.