1. Joined
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    06 Feb '09 17:21
    In my drawer i have ten black socks and ten white socks , i am going out to a party so i need a fresh pair of socks ,as i open the drawer the bulb blows and i can,t see a thing , because i am in a rush to get to the party i stick my hand in and scoop up some socks . what is the minimum amount of socks i can get out to have a matching pair?
  2. Standard memberJerryH
    Hyperbole Happy
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    06 Feb '09 17:29
    eleven?
  3. Joined
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    06 Feb '09 17:31
    if you don't care which color, you only need three
  4. Standard memberJerryH
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    06 Feb '09 17:39
    Originally posted by Aetherael
    if you don't care which color, you only need three
    I'm Polish.
  5. Joined
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    06 Feb '09 18:17
    Originally posted by phil3000
    In my drawer i have ten black socks and ten white socks , i am going out to a party so i need a fresh pair of socks ,as i open the drawer the bulb blows and i can,t see a thing , because i am in a rush to get to the party i stick my hand in and scoop up some socks . what is the minimum amount of socks i can get out to have a matching pair?
    Three?
  6. Joined
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    143878
    06 Feb '09 18:34
    Originally posted by Aetherael
    if you don't care which color, you only need three
    got to be a matching pair!!!
  7. Joined
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    06 Feb '09 18:35
    Originally posted by FabianFnas
    Three?
    your correct the answer is THREE, well done
  8. Joined
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    143878
    06 Feb '09 18:35
    Originally posted by phil3000
    [b]got to be a matching pair ,but the answer is three!!!!
  9. Standard memberJerryH
    Hyperbole Happy
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    06 Feb '09 21:20
    I was wrong earlier it's twelve.😳
  10. Standard memberforkedknight
    Defend the Universe
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    06 Feb '09 22:16
    Originally posted by JerryH
    I was wrong earlier it's twelve.😳
    That's the minimum to be guaranteed a pair of each.
  11. Joined
    11 Nov '05
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    07 Feb '09 08:11
    A sisterproblem to the socks problem is the following:

    I found a sale where I could buy sneakers really cheap. So I bought a dozen. Same size and same colour: white. I spearated each of them to individual choes an put them in a box.
    The next day I wanted to have a pair, but the light was out and it was dark as a coalmine. Anyway i thought that
    If I take up x number of shoes (all undistinguashable by hand) how many would I have to take in order to be sure that I got one left and one right one?
  12. Joined
    06 May '08
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    1908
    07 Feb '09 09:06
    Originally posted by FabianFnas
    A sisterproblem to the socks problem is the following:

    I found a sale where I could buy sneakers really cheap. So I bought a dozen. Same size and same colour: white. I spearated each of them to individual choes an put them in a box.
    The next day I wanted to have a pair, but the light was out and it was dark as a coalmine. Anyway i thought that
    If I ...[text shortened]... y hand) how many would I have to take in order to be sure that I got one left and one right one?
    I suspect you only bought sneakers for right feet due to the shop experiencing an unprecedented spate of bad dancers buying shoes. Therefore, no pair of sneakers for you 🙁
  13. Joined
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    43938
    07 Feb '09 09:41
    Originally posted by Meadows
    I suspect you only bought sneakers for right feet due to the shop experiencing an unprecedented spate of bad dancers buying shoes. Therefore, no pair of sneakers for you 🙁
    I controlled very carefully that in each pair there were one left and one right shoe. That was not the reason I got them so cheap. However, each pair were all white, and identical to eachother.
  14. Joined
    06 May '08
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    1908
    07 Feb '09 10:02
    Originally posted by FabianFnas
    I controlled very carefully that in each pair there were one left and one right shoe. That was not the reason I got them so cheap. However, each pair were all white, and identical to eachother.
    Ah well that was clever of you.

    Ok (unless I'm missing a cheeky loophole or something foolish on my part), if you take n shoes, n/2 being left shoes and n/2 being right shoes, you need n/2 + 1 to guarantee that you'll have at least one of each.

    In your case you bought 12 so I would presume that you need 7 boxes.
  15. Joined
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    07 Feb '09 10:23
    Originally posted by Meadows
    Ah well that was clever of you.

    Ok (unless I'm missing a cheeky loophole or something foolish on my part), if you take n shoes, n/2 being left shoes and n/2 being right shoes, you need n/2 + 1 to guarantee that you'll have at least one of each.

    In your case you bought 12 so I would presume that you need 7 boxes.
    One box only, and 1 dozen identical pairs of shoes, all of them in the same box.
    It's dark (as in a coal mine) and I pick up x number of shoes. What is x in order to be sure that I pick up a pair that I can use for my daily promenade?

    No loophole and one box only. How many shoes do I need to pick up?
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