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Pigeonhole Principle Worksheet for Maths Olympiad

Maths Olympiad topic 23: Pigeonhole and worst case · Set 531 · 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 three of them were born in the same day of the week? (a) 21 (b) 22 (c) 15 (d) 14
  2. 2.A bag has 7 white balls and 5 red 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) 8 (d) 6
  3. 3.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) 10 (b) 6 (c) 5 (d) 2
  4. 4.A bag has 5 green balls and 7 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) 12 (c) 6 (d) 8
  5. 5.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) 22 (b) 21 (c) 29 (d) 28
  6. 6.A drawer has lots of blue, green 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) 3 (b) 6 (c) 2 (d) 4
  7. 7.A drawer has lots of white, red, green 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) 8 (b) 2 (c) 4 (d) 5
  8. 8.A bag has 7 red balls and 8 yellow 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) 15 (c) 9 (d) 2
  9. 9.A bag has 6 white balls and 6 green balls. Without looking, how many balls must you take out to be sure of getting 2 green balls? (a) 7 (b) 12 (c) 8 (d) 2
  10. 10.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) 25 (c) 13 (d) 24
  11. 11.A drawer has lots of blue, red, white, 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) 5 (b) 2 (c) 6 (d) 10
  12. 12.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) 49 (b) 36 (c) 37 (d) 48
  13. 13.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) 14 (c) 8 (d) 15
  14. 14.A bag has 9 green balls and 10 red balls. Without looking, how many balls must you take out to be sure of getting 2 red balls? (a) 2 (b) 10 (c) 19 (d) 11
  15. 15.A bag has 11 yellow balls and 7 green balls. Without looking, how many balls must you take out to be sure of getting 2 green balls? (a) 13 (b) 18 (c) 12 (d) 2
  16. 16.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) 2 (b) 4 (c) 3 (d) 5
  17. 17.A bag has 6 black balls and 9 yellow balls. Without looking, how many balls must you take out to be sure of getting 2 yellow balls? (a) 2 (b) 7 (c) 15 (d) 8
  18. 18.A bag has 12 green balls and 3 black balls. Without looking, how many balls must you take out to be sure of getting 2 black balls? (a) 14 (b) 15 (c) 13 (d) 2
  19. 19.A drawer has lots of blue, 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) 6 (b) 5 (c) 10 (d) 2
  20. 20.A drawer has lots of 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) 2 (b) 4 (c) 3 (d) 6
  21. 21.A bag has 9 green balls and 10 blue balls. Without looking, how many balls must you take out to be sure of getting 2 blue balls? (a) 10 (b) 19 (c) 2 (d) 11
  22. 22.A bag has 5 black balls and 10 green 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) 15 (c) 6 (d) 2
  23. 23.A bag has 4 white 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) 5 (b) 2 (c) 12 (d) 15
  24. 24.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) 3 (b) 5 (c) 2 (d) 4
  25. 25.A bag has 12 white balls and 3 green balls. Without looking, how many balls must you take out to be sure of getting 2 green balls? (a) 13 (b) 2 (c) 15 (d) 14
  26. 26.A bag has 5 red balls and 9 white balls. Without looking, how many balls must you take out to be sure of getting 2 white balls? (a) 6 (b) 14 (c) 2 (d) 7
  27. 27.A bag has 4 black balls and 5 blue balls. Without looking, how many balls must you take out to be sure of getting at least one ball of each colour? (a) 9 (b) 6 (c) 5 (d) 2
  28. 28.A bag has 7 white balls and 3 yellow balls. Without looking, how many balls must you take out to be sure of getting at least one ball of each colour? (a) 4 (b) 10 (c) 2 (d) 8
  29. 29.A drawer has lots of yellow, green, 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
  30. 30.A drawer has lots of blue, green, black, 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) 2 (b) 6 (c) 5 (d) 10
  31. 31.A drawer has lots of green, red, 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) 8 (b) 2 (c) 4 (d) 5
  32. 32.A drawer has lots of white, 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) 10 (b) 5 (c) 6 (d) 2
  33. 33.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) 4 (b) 5 (c) 2 (d) 8
  34. 34.A bag has 3 yellow balls and 7 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) 4 (c) 8 (d) 10
  35. 35.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) 36 (b) 24 (c) 25 (d) 37
  36. 36.A drawer has lots of blue, green, red 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) 4 (b) 8 (c) 2 (d) 5
  37. 37.A drawer has lots of white, blue, black, 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) 6 (b) 5 (c) 2 (d) 10
  38. 38.A bag has 3 blue balls and 10 black 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) 4 (c) 13 (d) 2
  39. 39.A bag has 5 white balls and 12 green balls. Without looking, how many balls must you take out to be sure of getting 2 green balls? (a) 6 (b) 17 (c) 7 (d) 2
  40. 40.A drawer has lots of red, black, yellow 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) 5 (c) 4 (d) 8

Answer key

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

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