Question

Jessica has 9 socks in a drawer. At least one one of them is white. For every 4 socks, at least 2 are of the same color, and for every 5 socks no more than 3 are of the same color. How many white socks are in the drawer?

Answer 1

In order to find the number of white socks in the drawer we can initiate by representing the situation in a graph:

then, using we first statement we separate into groups of 4 socks and select

2 of them as white:

finally, using the third condition, we can make a subgroup of 4 socks and 5 socks knowing there cannot be more than 3 white socks in the group of 5:

Answer:

There are 5 white socks in the drawer