Math 230 Dr.

Perdue

Activity #2: Handshake Problem Name:

(or Mathematical Modeling for beginners)

Part I: Introduction
Mathematics allows us to answer questions that would otherwise be too
tedious or time-consuming – this is part of its power! This is best observed
in a process called “mathematical modeling” in which mathematics, usually in
the forms of rules or patterns, is used to model real life situations. This
activity will allow you to experience first hand the power of mathematical
models.
When faced with a problem (something we don’t know how to do), many of
us only have one strategy or “heuristic”: trial & error (also known as guess &
check). Although this heuristic is indeed useful and often works, it is also
often cumbersome & tedious. For this reason, it is good to have a few more
problem-solving heuristics in your mathematical “tool box”. In this activity,
you will discover the usefulness of six other strategies, namely:
1. Using smaller numbers
2. Acting it out (also known as making a model)
3. Making a table
4. Drawing a picture
5. Looking for a pattern
6. Using a rule or formula
We will be using a problem-solving process first described by a man
named George Polya in his famous book, “How to Solve it”. Write the four
steps involved in the process below along with some of the questions to ask
yourself during each step (Note: file in BB will help with this.):
1.

2.

3.

4.

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Math 230 Dr. Perdue

Part II: Action

Here is your problem, “There is a costume party with 25 guests. Each
person at the party shakes hands with everyone else. How many total
handshakes happen at the party?”

First, we are going to make use of some of our heuristics, use a smaller
number, create a table, and act it out. In fact, we are going to combine
these. Here’s what you need to do, get in “parties” of the number shown in
the table below and act out the handshakes. Make sure that everyone
shakes hands with everyone else. Carefully keep count of the total number
of handshakes and record the data in the table below. Keep joining bigger
and bigger parties until you have completed the entire table.
Number of People in the Party Total Number of Handshakes
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

Next, using the back of this sheet, I want you to draw parties of 9 and 10
people. You can draw these models any way you like (for example, a circle
might represent a person and dotted lines might connect two people and
represent a handshake).

Finally, using all of the data you’ve collected and the models you’ve drawn, I
want you to look for a pattern that will allow you to predict the number of
handshakes for other size parties; for example, for 11, 12, or 15 people.
Describe the pattern you found in the box below:

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Math 230 Dr. Perdue

Part III: Integration

By now you’ve probably realized that there is an important difference in the
patterns or rules that one can discover when using mathematical models.
Some rules are “indirect” (also known as “recursive”) meaning that you must
know the previous term before finding the next. An example would be the
famous Fibonacci sequence that is found by adding the previous two terms to
find the next. Here are the first five terms, {1, 1, 2, 3, 5, . . .}; can you find
the next three?

_____ , ______ , ______

Other rules, which are often more helpful, are “direct” meaning that you can
“plug in” the desired term number and calculate the answer directly. For
example, the rule for finding the perimeter of a square given the side length
is simply to “multiply by 4”. Use this rule to complete the following table:
Side Length (in inches) Perimeter (in inches)
5
12
25
100
Notice how, in order to find the perimeter of a square with side length of
100 inches, you do NOT need to find the perimeter of a square with side
length 99 inches. This is very useful!!

Now, review the pattern you observed in the handshake problem and decide
whether your rule is direct or indirect.

Finally, read sections 1.4 & 2.3 and write the direct rule or formula for find
the number of handshakes, h, for a party with n people in the box below:

Don’t forget to check your rule and make sure it works!! How do you think
the “handshake” rule compares to the rule to determine the number of
diagonals in an n-sided polygon?

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