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Pigeonhole Principle Worksheet for Maths Olympiad

Maths Olympiad topic 23: Pigeonhole and worst case · Set 21 · 40 questions
TalentJR

How to solve it (Think of the unluckiest case): Imagine the unluckiest draws: how many can you take and still NOT have what you want? Add 1 to that number — the next one must give it. Pigeonhole: with n boxes (colours, months, days), n × (k − 1) + 1 things make sure some box has at least k.

NameDateTime takenScore ___ / 40
  1. 1.What is the smallest number of children in a group that makes sure at least four of them were born in the same day of the week? (a) 29 (b) 22 (c) 21 (d) 28
  2. 2.What is the smallest number of children in a group that makes sure at least two of them were born in the same day of the week? (a) 14 (b) 7 (c) 8 (d) 15
  3. 3.A drawer has lots of blue, yellow, black, red and white socks, all mixed up. In the dark, how many socks must you take out to be sure of getting a matching pair? (a) 10 (b) 2 (c) 5 (d) 6
  4. 4.A bag has 7 green balls and 5 blue balls. Without looking, how many balls must you take out to be sure of getting 2 blue balls? (a) 8 (b) 2 (c) 12 (d) 9
  5. 5.A bag has 5 green balls and 5 white balls. Without looking, how many balls must you take out to be sure of getting 2 white balls? (a) 2 (b) 6 (c) 10 (d) 7
  6. 6.What is the smallest number of children in a group that makes sure at least four of them were born in the same month? (a) 48 (b) 36 (c) 49 (d) 37
  7. 7.A drawer has lots of red, yellow, green and blue socks, all mixed up. In the dark, how many socks must you take out to be sure of getting a matching pair? (a) 8 (b) 4 (c) 2 (d) 5
  8. 8.A bag has 3 black balls and 5 blue balls. Without looking, how many balls must you take out to be sure of getting 2 blue balls? (a) 8 (b) 2 (c) 5 (d) 4
  9. 9.A bag has 7 red balls and 5 green balls. Without looking, how many balls must you take out to be sure of getting at least one ball of each colour? (a) 8 (b) 12 (c) 2 (d) 6
  10. 10.A drawer has lots of yellow, black, blue and white socks, all mixed up. In the dark, how many socks must you take out to be sure of getting a matching pair? (a) 2 (b) 4 (c) 5 (d) 8
  11. 11.What is the smallest number of children in a group that makes sure at least two of them were born in the same month? (a) 12 (b) 13 (c) 25 (d) 24
  12. 12.A drawer has lots of white, blue, red, green and yellow socks, all mixed up. In the dark, how many socks must you take out to be sure of getting a matching pair? (a) 6 (b) 2 (c) 5 (d) 10
  13. 13.A bag has 3 yellow balls and 11 blue balls. Without looking, how many balls must you take out to be sure of getting at least one ball of each colour? (a) 2 (b) 14 (c) 12 (d) 4
  14. 14.A drawer has lots of white, yellow, black, blue and red socks, all mixed up. In the dark, how many socks must you take out to be sure of getting a matching pair? (a) 10 (b) 6 (c) 5 (d) 2
  15. 15.A bag has 9 green balls and 6 white balls. Without looking, how many balls must you take out to be sure of getting 2 white balls? (a) 2 (b) 11 (c) 15 (d) 10
  16. 16.A drawer has lots of red, blue, yellow, black and green socks, all mixed up. In the dark, how many socks must you take out to be sure of getting a matching pair? (a) 5 (b) 10 (c) 2 (d) 6
  17. 17.A bag has 5 black balls and 5 blue balls. Without looking, how many balls must you take out to be sure of getting 2 blue balls? (a) 10 (b) 6 (c) 7 (d) 2
  18. 18.A bag has 9 green balls and 8 white balls. Without looking, how many balls must you take out to be sure of getting at least one ball of each colour? (a) 2 (b) 17 (c) 9 (d) 10
  19. 19.A drawer has lots of yellow, black, white, red and green socks, all mixed up. In the dark, how many socks must you take out to be sure of getting a matching pair? (a) 5 (b) 6 (c) 2 (d) 10
  20. 20.A drawer has lots of yellow and green socks, all mixed up. In the dark, how many socks must you take out to be sure of getting a matching pair? (a) 5 (b) 2 (c) 4 (d) 3
  21. 21.A drawer has lots of blue, green, red and yellow socks, all mixed up. In the dark, how many socks must you take out to be sure of getting a matching pair? (a) 8 (b) 2 (c) 4 (d) 5
  22. 22.A drawer has lots of red and blue socks, all mixed up. In the dark, how many socks must you take out to be sure of getting a matching pair? (a) 4 (b) 2 (c) 3 (d) 5
  23. 23.A bag has 7 green balls and 11 blue balls. Without looking, how many balls must you take out to be sure of getting 2 blue balls? (a) 18 (b) 9 (c) 8 (d) 2
  24. 24.What is the smallest number of children in a group that makes sure at least three of them were born in the same day of the week? (a) 21 (b) 15 (c) 14 (d) 22
  25. 25.A drawer has lots of black, white, red and green socks, all mixed up. In the dark, how many socks must you take out to be sure of getting a matching pair? (a) 4 (b) 5 (c) 2 (d) 8
  26. 26.A bag has 9 blue balls and 4 black balls. Without looking, how many balls must you take out to be sure of getting 2 black balls? (a) 11 (b) 13 (c) 2 (d) 10
  27. 27.A drawer has lots of blue and white socks, all mixed up. In the dark, how many socks must you take out to be sure of getting a matching pair? (a) 4 (b) 3 (c) 5 (d) 2
  28. 28.A bag has 3 yellow balls and 4 blue balls. Without looking, how many balls must you take out to be sure of getting at least one ball of each colour? (a) 5 (b) 7 (c) 4 (d) 2
  29. 29.A bag has 3 red balls and 6 yellow balls. Without looking, how many balls must you take out to be sure of getting at least one ball of each colour? (a) 7 (b) 9 (c) 4 (d) 2
  30. 30.A drawer has lots of blue, yellow, black and white socks, all mixed up. In the dark, how many socks must you take out to be sure of getting a matching pair? (a) 5 (b) 8 (c) 4 (d) 2
  31. 31.A drawer has lots of blue and green socks, all mixed up. In the dark, how many socks must you take out to be sure of getting a matching pair? (a) 5 (b) 4 (c) 3 (d) 2
  32. 32.A bag has 3 green balls and 4 red balls. Without looking, how many balls must you take out to be sure of getting at least one ball of each colour? (a) 2 (b) 7 (c) 5 (d) 4
  33. 33.A bag has 10 red balls and 8 yellow balls. Without looking, how many balls must you take out to be sure of getting 2 yellow balls? (a) 18 (b) 2 (c) 12 (d) 11
  34. 34.A drawer has lots of blue, white and red socks, all mixed up. In the dark, how many socks must you take out to be sure of getting a matching pair? (a) 6 (b) 2 (c) 4 (d) 3
  35. 35.A bag has 5 red balls and 4 white balls. Without looking, how many balls must you take out to be sure of getting 2 white balls? (a) 7 (b) 6 (c) 9 (d) 2
  36. 36.A bag has 11 red balls and 4 green balls. Without looking, how many balls must you take out to be sure of getting 2 green balls? (a) 13 (b) 15 (c) 2 (d) 12
  37. 37.A drawer has lots of green, black and red socks, all mixed up. In the dark, how many socks must you take out to be sure of getting a matching pair? (a) 4 (b) 6 (c) 3 (d) 2
  38. 38.A bag has 10 black balls and 3 blue balls. Without looking, how many balls must you take out to be sure of getting at least one ball of each colour? (a) 2 (b) 13 (c) 4 (d) 11
  39. 39.A drawer has lots of red and green socks, all mixed up. In the dark, how many socks must you take out to be sure of getting a matching pair? (a) 4 (b) 3 (c) 5 (d) 2
  40. 40.A drawer has lots of red, blue, white and green socks, all mixed up. In the dark, how many socks must you take out to be sure of getting a matching pair? (a) 5 (b) 2 (c) 8 (d) 4

Answer key

  1. 22
  2. 8
  3. 6
  4. 9
  5. 7
  6. 37
  7. 5
  8. 5
  9. 8
  10. 5
  11. 13
  12. 6
  13. 12
  14. 6
  15. 11
  16. 6
  17. 7
  18. 10
  19. 6
  20. 3
  21. 5
  22. 3
  23. 9
  24. 15
  25. 5
  26. 11
  27. 3
  28. 5
  29. 7
  30. 5
  31. 3
  32. 5
  33. 12
  34. 4
  35. 7
  36. 13
  37. 4
  38. 11
  39. 3
  40. 5

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