Mariko walks into her dark room to pull socks out of the dresser. If she has 5 pairs of white socks, 3 pairs of blue socks, and 4 pairs of pink socks that are single (not matched up), how many socks does she need to pull out to make sure she ends up with 1 matching pair?
Since there are three different categories, 4 must be drawn to be sure of getting a matching pair.
To match up 1 pair means i pair has 2 socks she has 1 she has t pull out i more to match up 1 pair
To match up 1 pair means 1 pair has 2 socks she has 1 she has to pull out 1 more to match up 1 pair
It would be thirteen.
To determine the minimum number of socks Mariko needs to pull out in order to ensure she ends up with 1 matching pair, we can use the worst-case scenario. In this scenario, Mariko would first pick one sock from each pair of different colors (white, blue, and pink). After these initial 3 picks, she still won't have a matching pair.
However, for the fourth pick, no matter what color sock Mariko chooses, she will definitely have at least one matching pair. Therefore, Mariko needs to pull out 4 socks in total to guarantee she ends up with 1 matching pair.