There are 4 separate black socks in the drawer (not 4 pairs of black socks, as the tutor @VFBundy assumes); There are 11 separate blue socks in the drawer (not 11 pairs of blue socks, as the tutor @VFBundy assumes); There are 3 separate white socks in the drawer (not 3 pairs of white socks, as the tutor @VFBundy assumes); There are 5 separate brown socks in the drawer (not 5 pairs of black socks, as the tutor @VFBundy assumes).
P == = . ANSWER
That answer is incorrect. In the beginning there were 4+11+3+5=23 socks in the drawer, 11 of them blue. We are told that she has already drawn a blue sock. So now there are only 22 socks left in the drawer, of which now only 10 of them are blue. Therefore, the probability that she will draw one of the 10 remaining blue socks out of the 22 remaining socks is 10 out of 22 or 10/22 which reduces to 5/11.
That is correct but here is a better (I think!) way to explain it. Make this chart, filling in the numbers we are given: ------------------------------------ | STRIPES | NO STRIPES || TOTALS | ------------------------------------------- BLUE | 5 | || 8 | ------------------------------------------- GREEN | 4 | || 7 | =========================================== TOTALS | | || | ------------------------------------------- Now we can fill in the number of BLUE shirts with NO STRIPES by subtracting 8-5=3. We can fill in the number of GREEN shirts with NO STRIPES by subtracting 7-4=3. We can fill in the TOTAL shirts by adding 8+7=15: ------------------------------------ | STRIPES | NO STRIPES || TOTALS | ------------------------------------------- BLUE | 5 | 3 || 8 | ------------------------------------------- GREEN | 4 | 3 || 7 | =========================================== TOTALS | | || 15 | ------------------------------------------- Now we can fill in the totals by adding 5+4=9 and 3+3=6: ------------------------------------ | STRIPES | NO STRIPES || TOTALS | ------------------------------------------- BLUE | 5 | 3 || 8 | ------------------------------------------- GREEN | 4 | 3 || 7 | =========================================== TOTALS | 9 | 6 || 15 | ------------------------------------------- Now the probability that Sam randomly chooses a shirt that is blue or has stripes are the ones I have made red below: ------------------------------------ | STRIPES | NO STRIPES || TOTALS | ------------------------------------------- BLUE | 5 | 3 || 8 | ------------------------------------------- GREEN | 4 | 3 || 7 | =========================================== TOTALS | 9 | 6 || 15 | ------------------------------------------- So that's 5+3+4=12 out of the 15, or 12/15, which reduces to 4/5.
That is correct. There are 3+7+4+10=24 gift boxes. Therefore the probability that the gift box that fell off the table will be green is 7 out of the 24 or 7/24. Edwin