Oplossing gevonden? De oplossing van het raadsel uit e-news nr. 5 van november 2018

X= number of socks (22 items are white socks)

The probability of getting a pair of white socks when making two selections is 15 %, thus P(white pair) = 0.15.

If P1 (white) is the probability of getting white sock on the first pull, and P2 (white) is the probability of pulling a white sock the second time, then following applies:

P1 (white) * P2 (white) = 0,15

With P1 (white) = 22 / x and P2 (white) = 21 / (x-1)

This can be illustrated with the following equation which we set equal to zero.

Now, we solve the quadratic equation with the p-q-formula, using the variables p = - 1 and q = (22 * 21) / 0.15, and resolve into „x“.

There are 56 socks and consequently 28 pairs of socks in Paul‘s drawer. Since we already know that 11 pairs are white socks, 17 pairs (28 – 11 = 17) of black socks remain in Paul’s drawer.