Today Puzzle #764
Puzzle No. 764鈥� Thursday 18 June
Now the shops are open again I have purchased a pack of socks. 5 pairs for 5 days, but each pair is a different colour. They are jumbled in my sock drawer and although all my meetings are still on video conference, I still don’t like wearing odd socks. What are the chances that I will manage to wear matching socks for 5 consecutive days if I randomly pick two socks each day and put them in the laundry basket at the end of the day?
Today’s #PuzzleForToday has been set by Dr Shaun Fitzgerald, Fellow of Girton College
Click here for the answer
On day 1 there is a 1 in 9 chance that the second sock I pick will match the first. On day 2 there is a 1 in 7 chance. So, the chance of this working for 5 consecutive days is 1/9 x 1/7 x 1/5 x 1/3 x 1/1 = 1/945 i.e. about 0.1%. If I care about this appearance, I should probably look in the drawer rather than pick at random.
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