Question

on the first monday in october, it is traditional that the nine justices of the U.S. Supreme Court begin their session by each shaking the hand of each of the other justices. how many total handshakes is this

Answer 1

To find the total number of handshakes, we can use the formula for the sum of the first n natural numbers, which is n * (n - 1) / 2.

In this case, there are 9 justices. So, applying the formula:

Total handshakes = 9 * (9 - 1) / 2
= 9 * 8 / 2
= 72 / 2
= 36

So, there would be a total of 36 handshakes.