Silly Socks
Standards Assessed: 5.3, 5.4
Name ________________________
Algebra 1
Directions: Joanna has quite a collection of socks.
In fact, she has so many socks that she has to put
them in two drawers. She also does something very
strange with her socks. Instead of putting them in
pairs in the drawers, she just randomly puts single
socks in either drawer. When she wants to wear
socks, she randomly picks one sock from the left
drawer and randomly picks one from the right
drawer.
Right now the left drawer has three white socks, two brown socks, three black socks, and
one red sock. The right drawer has two white socks, two brown socks, four black socks,
and one green sock. The rest of Joanna’s socks are either lost or in the laundry.
What is the probability that Joanna will get a pair of white socks today? Make sure you
include an explanation with necessary computations, sketches, formulas, and notes.
What is the probability that she will get a matching pair today?
What is the probability that neither sock will be black?