In addition to the intuitive explanation provided by Chris Smith, we can examine why this is the case from a different perspective: looking at undirected graphs.
To understand why the answer in the DIRECTED column is n*(n-1) , consider an undirected graph (which simply means that if there is a connection between two nodes (A and B), then you can go in both directions: from A to B and B to A). The maximum number of edges in an undirected graph is n(n-1)/2 and, obviously, in an oriented graph is twice as large .
Well, you ask, but why is there a maximum of n(n-1)/2 edges in an undirected graph ? To do this, consider n points (nodes) and ask how many edges can be made from the first point. Obviously n-1 edges. Now, how many edges can be extracted from the second point, given that you connected the first point? Since the first and second points are connected to already , there are n-2 edges that can be performed. And so on. Thus, the sum of all edges is equal to:
Sum = (n-1)+(n-2)+(n-3)+...+3+2+1
Since the sum contains members (n-1) , and the average amount in this series is ((n-1)+1)/2 {(last + first) / 2}, Sum = n(n-1)/2
moldovean Mar 21 '15 at 20:39 2015-03-21 20:39
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