Stinky Socks

Probability Level pending

There are two brothers Ram and Shyam. There are 4 pair of socks. 1 green, 1 blue, 1 red and 1 black pair. All 8 socks are well mixed in a box. Both brothers are going to party and is getting ready but when they were just going to pick out socks , electricity goes out. Now they pick socks at random alternatively 2 times each. What's the probability of no one getting right pair?


The answer is 0.74.

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1 solution

Let Ram pick first, (it doesn't matter which color at this point). Now there is a probability of 1 7 \frac{1}{7} that Shyam will pick the other sock of the same color that Ram chose, in which case no matter what their second picks are neither will end up with a matched pair.

Now suppose Shyam picks a sock of a different color than his brother picked, an event that will occur with probability 6 7 \frac{6}{7} . Then if Ram picks the other sock of the color Shyam first chose, (an event that will occur with probability 1 6 \frac{1}{6} ), then neither will end up with a matched pair no matter what Shyam's second pick is. If, however, Ram's second pick differs in color from the first two chosen, (an event that will occur with probability 4 6 \frac{4}{6} given that Shyam's first pick was of a different color than Ram's first pick), Shyam will have a probability of 4 5 \frac{4}{5} of choosing a sock that does not match his first pick.

So putting these pieces together, the probability that neither brother ends up with a matching pair of socks is

1 7 + 6 7 1 6 + 6 7 4 6 4 5 = 2 7 + 16 35 = 26 35 = 0.743 \dfrac{1}{7} + \dfrac{6}{7}*\dfrac{1}{6} + \dfrac{6}{7}*\dfrac{4}{6}*\dfrac{4}{5} = \dfrac{2}{7} + \dfrac{16}{35} = \dfrac{26}{35} = 0.743 to 3 3 decimal places.

as always you are awesome.... :) I approached differently

First We will calculate both getting right pairs i.e.

1x(6/7)x(1/6)x(1/5)= (1/35)

then we will calculate the probability of only one getting the right pair . i.e.

1x(6/7)x(1/6)x(4/5)=(4/35).

This when multiplied by 2 gives anyone getting the right pair which will equal to

8/35.

So probability of not getting anyone right pair is

1 - 1/35 - 8/35 = 26/35

Anshul Gupta - 6 years, 3 months ago

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