A probability problem by Aditya Chandra

Probability Level 1

If you have 30 white socks, 22 black socks, and 14 blue socks scattered across the floor in the dark, how many would you have to grab to get a matching pair?


The answer is 4.

Aditya Chandra by Aditya Chandra , 20, India

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3 solutions

Aditya Chandra
Jul 25, 2014
  1. Once you grab 4 you will definitely have 2 of the same color.
1 Helpful 0 Interesting 0 Brilliant 0 Confused

How can you say it so surely???

Anuj Shikarkhane - 6 years, 10 months ago

Had there been only one pair of each of the colored socks, your answer would have been correct. However, the correct answer to your question should be 34. In the worst case, one would pick up all the left or right sided socks (i.e. 15+11+7=33) and picking up one more sock would ensure a matching pair. Hence the minimum number of socks that one will need to pick up to ensure a matching pair is 34.

Sanket Bhamwari - 6 years, 10 months ago

you are true

Tanishq sihag - 6 years, 10 months ago
Fox To-ong
Feb 18, 2015

the least is 4 to get a pair of any color

0 Helpful 0 Interesting 0 Brilliant 0 Confused

great! ^_^

0 Helpful 0 Interesting 0 Brilliant 0 Confused

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