A blind man has a drawer with 32 red socks and 48 blue socks in it, all seperate and mixed.
How many socks does he have to remove from the drawer before he is certain to have a matching pair of the same color?
2006-12-23 03:38:52 · 14 answers · asked by Darth Vader 6 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Mathematics
Just 3, the third sock will always match one of the first 2.
2006-12-23 03:46:14 · answer #1 · answered by Feeling Mutual 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Three for the reasons given above,
The question then is how is he to know whether the first two are the same colour as one another or not and therefore to realise he needs to take a third sock?
And different ribbing, different lengths, stitching his name or other label into one colour and not the other are all viable solutions.
And how, when he has three socks, is he to know which two match so as to put these on? (I assume that he is conventional and thinks wearing odd socks is eccentric.)
It is for reasons like this that most blind people people I know do not have their socks all in a jumble in the same drawer but have two separate piles, one of red socks and one of blue, in separate drawers (getting their personal assistant to so arrange them after doing the laundry).
They also fold different banknotes of different denominatuons in different ways in their wallets so as to be able to hand over the correct money in a shop and not be diddled by a dishonest sales assistant,
By being organised and resourceful, one can minimise the effect of visual impairment on one's daily life. Tactile clues in the environment, such as paving stones with pimples on them near a street crossing point, are useful too.
I can't help wondering why anyone needs 40 pairs of socks and why if they did have 40 pairs they would limit the choice to two colours only? But then I wondered why Imelda Marcos needed all those shoes ...
2006-12-23 11:54:35 · answer #2 · answered by Tim Mason 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
1
2006-12-23 11:42:22 · answer #3 · answered by hari 1 · 0⤊ 5⤋
8
2006-12-23 11:51:40 · answer #4 · answered by jetboy861 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋
He will never know without the help of a friend. He is blind and can't see the colors no matter how many socks he removes.
2006-12-23 13:57:10 · answer #5 · answered by Nathan S 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Three.
Here is the proof: If the first two match, he is done. If they do not, then he has a red sock and a blue sock. The third sock is either red or blue.
2006-12-23 11:42:20 · answer #6 · answered by Asking&Receiving 3 · 3⤊ 1⤋
Three socks only. He could buy different top ribbing to tell the difference for next time, then he would only have to pull out two socks for a perfect match.
2006-12-23 11:46:23 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Only 3. Since there are only 2 colors any 3 socks
must have 2 of the same color.
BTW This is a nice application of the "pigeon-hole
principle".
2006-12-23 12:24:30 · answer #8 · answered by steiner1745 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
3. If the 1st 2 are different colors, the 3rd must match 1 of them.
2006-12-23 13:40:44 · answer #9 · answered by mu_do_in 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
He has to draw only three socks.
The reason is that the first two will either match, hence he is doen, or mismatch, in which case the third will have the same color as one of the earliest.
2006-12-23 11:49:58 · answer #10 · answered by mulla sadra 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋