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Pigeonhole Principle Worksheet for Maths Olympiad

Maths Olympiad topic 23: Pigeonhole and worst case · Set 440 · 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.A bag has 4 red balls and 3 black balls. Without looking, how many balls must you take out to be sure of getting 2 black balls? (a) 5 (b) 2 (c) 7 (d) 6
  2. 2.A bag has 10 red balls and 3 green 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) 4 (c) 13 (d) 11
  3. 3.A bag has 5 green balls and 11 red balls. Without looking, how many balls must you take out to be sure of getting at least one ball of each colour? (a) 6 (b) 12 (c) 2 (d) 16
  4. 4.What is the smallest number of children in a group that makes sure at least three of them were born in the same month? (a) 37 (b) 25 (c) 36 (d) 24
  5. 5.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) 24 (b) 25 (c) 13 (d) 12
  6. 6.A drawer has lots of 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) 2 (b) 3 (c) 4 (d) 5
  7. 7.A drawer has lots of black, yellow 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) 6 (b) 3 (c) 2 (d) 4
  8. 8.A bag has 11 blue balls and 6 white balls. Without looking, how many balls must you take out to be sure of getting at least one ball of each colour? (a) 12 (b) 2 (c) 7 (d) 17
  9. 9.A bag has 5 yellow balls and 9 black balls. Without looking, how many balls must you take out to be sure of getting 2 black balls? (a) 14 (b) 7 (c) 2 (d) 6
  10. 10.A drawer has lots of green, black, blue 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) 4 (b) 5 (c) 2 (d) 8
  11. 11.A bag has 8 black balls and 6 green balls. Without looking, how many balls must you take out to be sure of getting 2 green balls? (a) 9 (b) 2 (c) 10 (d) 14
  12. 12.A bag has 8 blue balls and 11 red balls. Without looking, how many balls must you take out to be sure of getting 2 red balls? (a) 19 (b) 2 (c) 10 (d) 9
  13. 13.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
  14. 14.A bag has 9 white balls and 12 black balls. Without looking, how many balls must you take out to be sure of getting 2 black balls? (a) 2 (b) 10 (c) 11 (d) 21
  15. 15.A bag has 7 yellow balls and 9 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) 8 (c) 16 (d) 10
  16. 16.A drawer has lots of yellow, red, white 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) 2 (b) 4 (c) 5 (d) 8
  17. 17.A bag has 7 red 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) 9 (c) 12 (d) 2
  18. 18.A drawer has lots of white 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) 4 (b) 3 (c) 5 (d) 2
  19. 19.A bag has 4 black balls and 10 blue balls. Without looking, how many balls must you take out to be sure of getting at least one ball of each colour? (a) 14 (b) 2 (c) 5 (d) 11
  20. 20.A bag has 8 red balls and 3 yellow balls. Without looking, how many balls must you take out to be sure of getting 2 yellow balls? (a) 9 (b) 10 (c) 2 (d) 11
  21. 21.A bag has 4 red balls and 4 green balls. Without looking, how many balls must you take out to be sure of getting 2 green balls? (a) 6 (b) 5 (c) 2 (d) 8
  22. 22.A bag has 6 black balls and 5 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) 11 (c) 6 (d) 2
  23. 23.A bag has 6 blue balls and 8 black balls. Without looking, how many balls must you take out to be sure of getting 2 black balls? (a) 7 (b) 8 (c) 2 (d) 14
  24. 24.A bag has 10 red balls and 4 white balls. Without looking, how many balls must you take out to be sure of getting 2 white balls? (a) 11 (b) 2 (c) 12 (d) 14
  25. 25.A bag has 3 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) 4 (c) 6 (d) 2
  26. 26.A bag has 12 yellow balls and 4 black 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) 5 (c) 13 (d) 16
  27. 27.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) 7 (b) 15 (c) 8 (d) 14
  28. 28.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) 14 (b) 22 (c) 21 (d) 15
  29. 29.A drawer has lots of blue, yellow and black 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) 3 (d) 6
  30. 30.A bag has 6 blue balls and 7 white balls. Without looking, how many balls must you take out to be sure of getting 2 white balls? (a) 13 (b) 8 (c) 7 (d) 2
  31. 31.A drawer has lots of white, blue, 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) 8 (b) 2 (c) 5 (d) 4
  32. 32.A drawer has lots of yellow, 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) 6 (b) 2 (c) 4 (d) 3
  33. 33.A bag has 7 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) 11 (b) 2 (c) 5 (d) 8
  34. 34.A drawer has lots of 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) 2 (b) 5 (c) 4 (d) 3
  35. 35.A bag has 11 white balls and 9 yellow balls. Without looking, how many balls must you take out to be sure of getting at least one ball of each colour? (a) 20 (b) 10 (c) 12 (d) 2
  36. 36.A drawer has lots of blue, yellow, black, 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) 6 (b) 2 (c) 10 (d) 5
  37. 37.A drawer has lots of red, white, 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) 8 (c) 2 (d) 4
  38. 38.A bag has 5 green balls and 10 yellow balls. Without looking, how many balls must you take out to be sure of getting 2 yellow balls? (a) 6 (b) 2 (c) 15 (d) 7
  39. 39.A bag has 3 yellow balls and 8 white balls. Without looking, how many balls must you take out to be sure of getting 2 white balls? (a) 2 (b) 5 (c) 11 (d) 4
  40. 40.A drawer has lots of black, green, white 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) 4 (b) 2 (c) 5 (d) 8

Answer key

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

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