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Pigeonhole Principle

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Saad Malik
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7 views

Pigeonhole Principle

Uploaded by

Saad Malik
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Pigeonhole Principle

• Suppose that a flock of 20 pigeons flies into a set of 19 pigeonholes to


roost. Because there are 20 pigeons but only 19 pigeonholes, a least
one of these 19 pigeonholes must have at least two pigeons in it. To
see why this is true, note that if each pigeonhole had at most one
pigeon in it, at most 19 pigeons, one per hole, could be
accommodated. This illustrates a general principle called the
pigeonhole principle, which states that if there are more pigeons than
pigeonholes, then there must be at least one pigeonhole with at least
two pigeons in it
A function f from a set with k + 1 or more elements to a set with k elements is not
one-to-one.
The Generalized Pigeonhole Principle

If k pigeon holes are occupied by kr+1 pigeons, then at least one


pigeonhole is occupied by r+1 or more pigeons

If n objects are placed into k boxes, then there is at least one box
containing at least objects.
This principle states that if you have N objects and distribute them among k boxes (N > k), then at least one box will
contain more than N/k objects (ceiling function not used here).

The inequality N/k ≥ r tells us that the number of objects per box (N/k) must be greater than or equal to a specific value
(r).

We want to find the minimum number of objects (N) required to satisfy this inequality.

N = k(r-1) + 1: This formula represents the smallest possible value of N that guarantees at least r objects in one box. Here's
why:

Assuming the Opposite: Suppose we have N objects and none of the boxes contain more than r-1 objects. This implies N/k
<= r-1 (using the concept of pigeonhole principle).

Contradiction: If the above assumption is true, the total number of objects would be at most k*(r-1). However, we started
with N objects (which is supposed to be the total). This creates a contradiction

Since the assumption leads to a contradiction, it means for N/k to be greater than or equal to r (as required by the
inequality), the minimum number of objects (N) must be at least k(r-1) + 1.
In simpler terms:

Imagine you have boxes (k) and want to ensure at least r objects in one box. The
formula tells you the minimum number of total objects (N) needed. It basically
says:

•Take the number of boxes (k)


•Multiply it by the minimum number of objects per box you want to avoid (r-1)
•Add 1 (to ensure you go beyond the minimum and have at least r objects in a box)

This formula guarantees that with N objects distributed among k boxes, you'll have
at least r objects in one of the boxes.
What is the minimum number of students required in a discrete mathematics class to be
sure that at least six will receive the same grade, if there are five possible grades, A, B, C,
D, and F?

Pigeon holes: k=5


Pigeons: r+1 = 6 → n = 5

Minimum students required:


kr+1 = 5.5+1 = 26
26 students required to make sure 6 will receive the same grades
Show that in any set of six classes, each meeting regularly once a week on a
particular day of the week, there must be two that meet on the same day,
assuming that no classes are held on weekends.

n=6
k=5
Show that if there are 30 students in a class, then at least two have last names that begin with the same letter.

n = 30
k = 26
30
⌈ ⌉ = ⌈ 1.15 ⌉ =2
26
A bowl contains 10 red balls and 10 blue balls. A woman selects balls at random without looking at them.
a) How many balls must she select to be sure of having at least three balls of the same color?
b) How many balls must she select to be sure of having at least three blue balls?

a.
k=2
r+1 = 3 → n = 2
Kr+1 = 2x2+1 = 5
Five balls must be selected because if there are four balls 2 balls can be of different color

b. She needs to withdraw 13 balls to make sure there are at least 3 balls are
blue
A drawer contains a dozen brown socks and a dozen black socks, all unmatched. A man takes socks out at
random in the dark.
a) How many socks must he take out to be sure that he has at least two socks of the same color?
b) How many socks must he take out to be sure that he has at least two black socks?

a.
k=2
n+1 = 2 → n = 1
Kn+1 = 1x2+1 = 3
3 socks must be selected because if there are 2 socks 1 sock can be of different color

b. He needs to takeout 14 socks to make sure there are at least 2 socks are
black
Show that among any group of five (not necessarily consecutive) integers, there are two
with the same remainder when divided by 4.

n=5
k=4
5
⌈ ⌉ = ⌈ 1.25 ⌉ =2
4
What is the least number of area codes needed to guarantee that the 25 million phones in a state can be
assigned distinct 10-digit telephone numbers? (Assume that telephone numbers are of the form NXX-
NXX-XXXX, where the first three digits form the area code, N represents a digit from 2 to 9 inclusive, and
X represents any digit.)

25000000
⌈ ⌉ =⌈ 3.15 ⌉ = 4
8000000
Show that If you pick 5 integers from 1 to 8, you will definitely find two of them must add up to 9.

{ 1 , 8 } , {2 , 7 } , {3 ,6 } , {4 , 5 }

n=5
k=4

5
⌈ ⌉ = ⌈ 1.25 ⌉ =2
4
What is the minimum number of students, each of whom comes from one of the 50
states, who must be enrolled in a university to guarantee that there are at least 100 who
come from the same state?

k = 50
n+1 = 100→ n = 99
Kn+1 = 50(99)+1=4951
There are n people in a party and n is more than 1 so they can
shake hands with one another at will.
You will always find two people who shake hands with the same
number of people.

𝑛
⌈ ⌉ = ⌈ 1. 𝑋𝑋𝑋 ⌉ = 2
𝑛 −1

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