At a party, everyone shook hands with everybody else. There were 66 handshakes. How many people were at the party?

There would be 12 people at the party!

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.

Hope this helps!

Uhm. You didnt get this from me, But If there was 66 handshakes, and each person shakes another persons hand, all you gotta do is divide it by 2 and you get 66.

Step-by-step explanation:

Im right ik ty ;)