Socks puzzle

Probability Level 1

You are getting dressed in the dark and realize that you forgot to bind all your socks together into pairs. However you know there are exactly 10 pairs of white socks and 10 pairs of black socks in your draw. All the socks are exactly the same except for their color. How many socks do you need to take with you to ensure you have at least a pair that match?


The answer is 3.

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Riddhi More by riddhi more , 19, India

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2 solutions

Riddhi More
Jul 10, 2016

there are only two colors and if you pull out three socks you will definitely get two matching socks with one odd.....

1 Helpful 0 Interesting 0 Brilliant 0 Confused

If you take two socks, it can be both black, it can be both white or it can be white and black. So to be sure that you have at least a pair that match, you need to take three socks.

0 Helpful 0 Interesting 0 Brilliant 0 Confused

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