SOLUTION: how do i work out this problem and may i ask for a step by step process Mario has 3 brown socks and 5 white socks in his sock drawer. What is the least number of socks he should

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Question 1030568: how do i work out this problem and may i ask for a step by step process
Mario has 3 brown socks and 5 white socks
in his sock drawer. What is the least
number of socks he should take out of his
drawer without looking if he wants to get
at least one matched pair?
Found 2 solutions by Theo, josmiceli:
Answer by Theo(13342) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
i would say 3 socks would be the minimum.

there are only 2 colors in there.
if he picks 3 socks, 2 of them have to be the same color.

the same color will either be brown or it will be white, but it will be the same.

he could get away with only 2 socks but it's not guaranteed they will be the same color.

when he draws 3, two of them have to be the same color.


Answer by josmiceli(19441) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
You want to be " guaranteed " a match. In
other words - 100% of the time, you get a match.
--------------------------
If you take out 2 socks are you guaranteed a match?
No -you could have BW or WB
--------------------------
If you take out 3 socks are you guaranteed a match?
Yes -you could have:
WBW, BBW
WWB, BWB
WBB, BBB
WWW, BWW
--------------
I think that's all of them -notice you always get
at least 1 match -no way to avoid it.