2005 AMC 8 Problems/Problem 16

Problem

A five-legged Martian has a drawer full of socks, each of which is red, white or blue, and there are at least five socks of each color. The Martian pulls out one sock at a time without looking. How many socks must the Martian remove from the drawer to be certain there will be 5 socks of the same color?

$\textbf{(A)}\ 6\qquad\textbf{(B)}\ 9\qquad\textbf{(C)}\ 12\qquad\textbf{(D)}\ 13\qquad\textbf{(E)}\ 15$

Solution

The Martian can pull out $12$ socks, $4$ of each color, without having $5$ of the same kind yet. However, the next one he pulls out must be the fifth of one of the colors so he must remove $\boxed{\textbf{(D)}\ 13}$ socks.

See Also

2005 AMC 8 (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 15
Followed by
Problem 17
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