The probability of drawing unmatched socks on any given day depends on the number of socks remaining and the number of matching pairs left. Let's analyze this step-by-step:
Day 1:
Total socks: 6 (2 red, 2 white, 2 blue)
Favorable outcomes (unmatched socks): You can draw any one sock and then a sock from a different pair. There are 4 choices for the first sock (any of the 6 colors) and then 4 remaining socks (excluding the one already drawn). So, there are 4 * 4 = 16 favorable outcomes.
Total possible outcomes: You can draw any two socks from the 6 available. There are 6 choices for the first sock and then 5 remaining socks, resulting in 6 * 5 = 30 total possible outcomes.
Probability on Day 1:
(Favorable outcomes on Day 1) / (Total possible outcomes on Day 1) = 16 / 30 = 8/15
Day 2:
Total socks remaining: 4 (after drawing 2 on Day 1, not replaced)
Favorable outcomes (unmatched socks): Similar to Day 1, you can draw any sock and then one from a different remaining pair. There are 3 choices for the first sock and then 2 remaining socks (excluding the one drawn), resulting in 3 * 2 = 6 favorable outcomes.
Total possible outcomes: There are 4 choices for the first sock and then 3 remaining, resulting in 4 * 3 = 12 total possible outcomes.
Probability on Day 2 (given unmatched socks on Day 1):
We only consider the scenario where you drew unmatched socks on Day 1 because the prompt asks for the probability of this happening for all three days.
So, we only consider the drawers where we have 4 socks remaining (unmatched).
(Favorable outcomes on Day 2) / (Total possible outcomes on Day 2) = 6 / 12 = 1/2
Day 3:
Total socks remaining: 2 (after drawing 2 on Day 2, not replaced)
Favorable outcomes (unmatched socks): There's only one way to draw unmatched socks at this point - you must draw the two remaining socks, which are inherently unmatched.
Total possible outcomes: There are 2 choices for the first sock and then 1 remaining, resulting in 2 * 1 = 2 total possible outcomes.
Probability on Day 3 (given unmatched socks on Days 1 & 2):
Similar to Day 2, we only consider the scenario where you drew unmatched socks on both previous days.
(Favorable outcomes on Day 3) / (Total possible outcomes on Day 3) = 1 / 2
Overall Probability:
The prompt asks for the probability of getting unmatched socks for all three days. To get this probability, we need to multiply the probabilities of getting unmatched socks on each day (considering the condition that you drew unmatched socks on the previous day).
Overall Probability = (Probability on Day 1) * (Probability on Day 2 | Day 1) * (Probability on Day 3 | Day 1 & 2) = 8/15 * 1/2 * 1/2 = 8 / 60
Simplifying the fraction:
We can divide both the numerator and denominator by 4:
Overall Probability = 2 / 15
Therefore, the probability of drawing unmatched socks for all three days is 2/15.