Raju had 12 black and 15 white socks in a drawer. How many socks must he bring out to be sure of getting a pair of the same color

Answer 1

3

He must pick 3

THe answer to problem like this is always 1 + # of colors;

So in this problem there are 2 colors: black and white.

Therefore he must pick 1+2 = 3

If another problem like this comes along, say 4 colors: black , white,

red, and blue, then he must pick 4+1 = 5

This is because if it picks one of each color, the extra is needed

to break the tie

Do you understand?