Answer: 21
Explanation :
Certainly, let's provide a mathematical explanation for the number of handshakes:
To calculate the total number of handshakes that occur when seven people shake hands as described in the riddle, we can use a summation.
We start with the first person, who shakes hands with six other people. This can be represented as:
1st person shakes hands with 6 people = 6 handshakes
Then, the second person shakes hands with the remaining six people (excluding the first person), so:
2nd person shakes hands with 5 people = 5 handshakes
The third person shakes hands with 4 people:
3rd person shakes hands with 4 people = 4 handshakes
This pattern continues until the last person, who shakes hands with only one person:
7th person shakes hands with 1 person = 1 handshake
Now, to find the total number of handshakes, we simply sum up these individual handshakes:
Total handshakes = 6 + 5 + 4 + 3 + 2 + 1
Total handshakes = 21
Therefore, there are indeed 21 handshakes in total when the seven people follow the described handshake pattern.