In chess championship 153 games have been played. If a player with every other player plays only once, then the number of players are (a) 17 (b) 51 (c) 18 (d) 35

Short Answer

Expert verified
The number of players in the chess championship is \(18\). Therefore, the correct answer is (c) 18.

Step by step solution

01

Understand the concept of combinations

In combinatorics, a combination is a selection of items from a larger set, such that the order of the items does not matter. In this case, we are looking for the number of unique pairs of players that can be formed from the total number of players. The formula for combinations is: \[C(n, k) = \frac{n!}{k!(n-k)!}\] Where \(n\) is the total number of items (in our case, the number of players), \(k\) is the number of items in each combination (in this case, 2, since we are looking for unique pairs), and \(C(n, k)\) is the number of combinations.
02

Find the number of players corresponding to the number of games played

Given that 153 games have been played, our goal is to find a value of \(n (the number of players)\) such that \(C(n, 2) = 153\), using the combinations formula from step 1. Rewriting the equation with the formula, we get: \[\frac{n!}{2!(n-2)!} = 153\] We need to find the value of \(n\) that satisfies this equation.
03

Solve for n

We will now solve the equation for \(n\): \[\frac{n!}{2!(n-2)!} = 153\] We know that \((n-1)! = \frac{n!}{n}\), so we can rewrite the equation as: \[\frac{n(n-1)}{2} = 153\] Now, multiply both sides by 2: \[n(n-1) = 306\] Since 17 * 18 = 306, \(n = 18\).
04

Select the correct answer

The correct answer is the number of players who participated in the chess championship: 18 players. Thus, the answer is (c) 18.

Unlock Step-by-Step Solutions & Ace Your Exams!

  • Full Textbook Solutions

    Get detailed explanations and key concepts

  • Unlimited Al creation

    Al flashcards, explanations, exams and more...

  • Ads-free access

    To over 500 millions flashcards

  • Money-back guarantee

    We refund you if you fail your exam.

Over 30 million students worldwide already upgrade their learning with Vaia!

One App. One Place for Learning.

All the tools & learning materials you need for study success - in one app.

Get started for free

Most popular questions from this chapter

See all solutions

Recommended explanations on English Textbooks

View all explanations

What do you think about this solution?

We value your feedback to improve our textbook solutions.

Study anywhere. Anytime. Across all devices.

Sign-up for free