1.Find the number of pairwise comparisons that would take place in an election with 13 candidates?

Question

2.If there are 171 total pairwise comparisons in a different election, how many candidates are running?

Answer 1

each of the 13 candidates is paired with each of the other 12
... BUT ... A paired with B is the same as B paired with A

1. 13 * 12 / 2 = ?

2. c = (171 * 2) / (c - 1) ... c^2 - c - 342 = 0

Answer 2

So 342 people are running for the second question or would it be 0?

Answer 3

c is the number of candidates

you need to solve the quadratic to find the answer

factoring ... (c + 18) (c - 19) = 0