Answers:
36 individual black socks
38 individual white socks
Check: 36+38 = 74 total individual socks
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Work Shown:
b = number of pairs of black socks
w = number of pairs of white socks
w = b+1 since he has 1 more pair of white socks compared to black socks
2b = number of individual black socks
2w = number of individual white socks
2b+2w = total number of individual socks
2b+2w = 74
2b+2(b+1) = 74 .... plug in w = b+1
2b+2b+2 = 74 ... distribute
4b+2 = 74
4b = 74-2 .... subtracting 2 from both sides
4b = 72
b = 72/4 ... dividing both sides by 4
b = 18 is the number of pairs of black socks he has
2b = 2*18 = 36 is the number of individual black socks he has
w = b+1 = 18+1 = 19 is the number of pairs of white socks he has
2w = 2*19 = 38 is the number of individual white socks he has
2b+2w = 36+38 = 74 individual socks overall
