Check outside next to the air outlet.

They're "Transfered" into matter and absorbed by the washing machine.

They don't go missing - they change in nature and appearance so that ultimately you end up with a drawer full of socks, none of which match. And then you have to wear boots all the time like me so that no-one ever knows....

they glob onto other clothes...you know those hot skirts and tank tops, they want to see how the other half lives :)

Actually, the law of conservation of matter is often simplified to how it is presented in your question "matter cannot be created or destroyed". In truth, the full law is "the amount of matter and energy in a closed system always remains constant". It's "matter and energy" because, according to e=mc^2, matter and energy are equivalent, and can convert from one into the other. Now, armed with this science, we can try to answer the missing sock question. It seems very unlikely that the socks are converting to pure energy - according to e=mc^2, the energy "e" that you get from converting a mass "m" is that mass times a very very big number (the speed of light squared), and even the smallest socks have enough mass to destroy at least an entire city, if converted to pure energy. So there is only one possibility - the socks are not within a closed system. This could mean that the universe itself is not closed: the socks could be falling into another universe through temporary cosmic wormholes. A universe composed entirely of missing socks, perhaps... but at least the socks are mostly freshly washed. Bizarre forms of life based on socks may have evolved there. Perhaps one day, they or we will find a way to travel between our universes, and communicate. What wonderful things the sock creatures could share with us!!! Or, perhaps we just lose them...

Simple energy shift, Lint! The sock that stays behind is lost in the Matrix or just loves you too much!

The sock fairy, of course... Then again, are you sure you don't have a set matching the set of two different colored socks that you're wearing at home in the drawer?

They cross into another dimension.

Underneath the washer. Or another theory is they get lost when transfering them to the dryer. Or you leave them behind in the washer so they get mixed in with the next load. The pairs never meet again...

lol funny.

Your dryer is a portal to another dimension and sock slip easily thru it. The other dimension is always losing shoes. That's why you will see one odd shoe on the road sometimes. ;-)

Simple - black holes.

When you die you get a really big box of all the stuff you lost. Its mostly socks.

I have a theory that little gremlins live in our dryers that steal one sock from you every once in awhile if you don't appease them. I've built a shrine on the top of my dryer where I leave offerings of shots of vodka. It seems to be working. =P

They go directly....................TO ME!!

It socks,but it really doesn't matter.

Maybe they decompose and reform as that annoying fluff under the sofa?

They end up in the Hosezone.

They get stuck inside sweatshirts and pants and you find them next time you wear that article of clothing. I've got an island of lost socks....reminds me of the island of lost toys from Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer...they're lonely

They disappear into another deminsion until the exact moment after the other one is thrown and picked by the garbage hauler. Then they reappear in your sock drawer.

Well I don't know about you, but I myself seem to be using anti-matter dryer sheets.

To sockstock.com where they are resold.

All the missing socks of the universe are at a huge SOCK HOP .. dancin' the night away. :)

It changes into lint, which attaches itself to the lint trap. Once in awhile you can go in there and get a whole sock back out.

I thought mine went to the Sock Dimension, but it turns out that my son's puppy eats them. See look! He's got white lint all over his whiskers now... bastard!

Because socks have an especially hard time with slavery and being 'owned'. They will try to escape at every opportunity. You see them everywhere. On your stairs, across the room, hiding inside a pair of jeans. They are quite slippery, actually, and many DO find their way to freedom, only to wind up destitute. That is why you'll sometimes find them soggy and dirty, lying in a gutter. ;)

Please don't mention missing socks...........I guess I'll have to start taking the pills again.

have you ever noticed that the lint made from each wash is the same color of your missing sock?. . .

we will all be fluent in Marsian before we know the answer to that.

I found the answer. Yep, sure did. Watch the link. http://www.youtube.com/user/druebeall#p/f/138/kEuOvXyH2II

They go to that Big Sock Drawer in the Sky. *Sob*

I am sure they are in a meatloaf somewhere.

Wouldn't it be "neat" if we discovered that the missing socks have been converted to pure energy in accordance with Einstein's equation expressing the equivalency of energy and mass (E = mass X the square of the speed of light)? If that were the case we might be able to figure out a way to harness that energy as a relatively clean source for mankind (and womankind too). Our cars might get 100 miles per sock or even more! At a full serve filling station we could say, "Sock it to me!"

I'll leave the first part of your question to the brains in the local physics department. As to the second half, I can offer some speculation. 1)The alternate sock universe where they join with pennies, lint, paper clips and ball point pens. 2)They evolve into rock stars. 3)They become form without substance. 4) They all joined a union to become extras for laundry detergent infomercials.

They get transported to faraway sectors of the universe via the Quantum Entanglement of Socks Theory