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    PaulineEdwards's Avatar
    PaulineEdwards Posts: 1, Reputation: 1
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    #1

    Sep 17, 2007, 06:43 PM
    Formula for a sequence
    What is the formula to find the number of one on one meetings a group of people
    (let's say 10) will need to have to meet with every one else in the group.

    I know that if there are 10 people, each of the 10 will need 9 meetings and each meeting will consist of 2 people. Therefore 45 meetings are necessary.

    In the reverse, how do I find out how many people are meeting if it takes 66 meetings...
    I know the answer is 12 by following the sequences. What is the formula?

    HELP. Tks.
    ebaines's Avatar
    ebaines Posts: 12,131, Reputation: 1307
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    #2

    Sep 18, 2007, 02:42 PM
    You've got two data points already figured out. In both cases you took the number of people (let's call that N), multiplied it by (N-1), and divided by 2 to determine the number of meetings (call that M). So the formula is:

    M = N*(N-1)/2, or M = (N^2-N)/2.

    Rearrange as a quadratic:

    N^2 - N - 2M =0.

    Now use the quadratic formula to solve for N.

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