It’s No Joke
Socks aren’t like other pieces of clothing. Usually you don’t lose a whole shirt or pair of pants. But socks go missing all the time – and it’s never both socks from the same pair. It’s always one sock, which keeps you from wearing the matching one. No one knows where the missing socks go: maybe they disappear into the arm of a shirt, or the leg of a pant…some people say they just get sucked up by the clothes dryer, which then blasts them into outer space. We aren’t sure. Then there are other socks that get holes in them. For all these reasons, we have to buy new socks all the time. So our friend Amber J., just asked, how many socks are knitted each year? One sock-related company says 4billion new socks are sold each year…and as we do the math, we can see why.
Wee ones: If you have 1 sock on each foot, and 1 sock on each hand as a sock puppet, how many socks are you wearing?
Little kids: If you lose 1 sock each day, how many do you lose in 1 week? Bonus: If you lose 1 on Wednesday, but then manage to keep all your socks on the next 3 days, on what day do you finally lose one again?
Big kids: If you have 20 socks in your drawer, all in perfect pairs, and you lose 5, at least how many full pairs must you still have, and how many at most? Bonus: There are about 330 million people in the US. About how many pairs would everyone have to buy in a year to add up to 4 billion pairs? (Hint if needed: How many per person to get to about 1 billion?)
Wee ones: If you hide a plastic frog, lizard, spider, and snake in your friend’s backpack, how many yucky fake animals do you hide?
Little kids: If you tape 5 fish to your friend’s back, then 2 fall off, then you tape 4 more, then 1 more falls off, how many fish are still taped up? Bonus: If you stuck 200 blue sticky notes, 200 green, 200 pink and 200 yellow to that car, how many sticky notes did you use?
Big kids: If you set your sister’s clock 20 minutes ahead so she thinks she’s really late, and it should say 7:15 am, what time does it say now? Bonus: If you have 3 cereals and want all 3 of them in the wrong box, how many possible ways can you re-box them?
Wee ones: If you have 1 sock on each foot, and 1 sock on each hand as a sock puppet, how many socks are you wearing?
Little kids: If you lose 1 sock each day, how many do you lose in 1 week? Bonus: If you lose 1 on Wednesday, but then manage to keep all your socks on the next 3 days, on what day do you finally lose one again?
Big kids: If you have 20 socks in your drawer, all in perfect pairs, and you lose 5, at least how many full pairs must you still have, and how many at most? Bonus: There are about 330 million people in the US. About how many pairs would everyone have to buy in a year to add up to 4 billion pairs? (Hint if needed: How many per person to get to about 1 billion?)
Wee ones: If you hide a plastic frog, lizard, spider, and snake in your friend’s backpack, how many yucky fake animals do you hide?
Little kids: If you tape 5 fish to your friend’s back, then 2 fall off, then you tape 4 more, then 1 more falls off, how many fish are still taped up? Bonus: If you stuck 200 blue sticky notes, 200 green, 200 pink and 200 yellow to that car, how many sticky notes did you use?
Big kids: If you set your sister’s clock 20 minutes ahead so she thinks she’s really late, and it should say 7:15 am, what time does it say now? Bonus: If you have 3 cereals and want all 3 of them in the wrong box, how many possible ways can you re-box them?
Answers:
Wee ones: 4 socks.
Little kids: 7 socks. Bonus: On Sunday.
Big kids: You have at least 5 of your 10 starting pairs, if you lost 5 socks from 5 different pairs…but you could have as many as 7 full pairs left, if 4 of the socks happened to match. Bonus: About 12 pairs per person, which is 1 pair per month. Not too bad!
Little kids: 7 socks. Bonus: On Sunday.
Big kids: You have at least 5 of your 10 starting pairs, if you lost 5 socks from 5 different pairs…but you could have as many as 7 full pairs left, if 4 of the socks happened to match. Bonus: About 12 pairs per person, which is 1 pair per month. Not too bad!