The Pigeonhole Principle:

Selected Exercises

The Pigeon-Hole Principle

Let k be a positive integer.
If k + 1 or more objects are placed in k boxes,
Then at least 1 box contains 2 or more objects.

Copyright Peter Cappello

Exercise 10
Let ( xi, yi ), i = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, be a set of 5 distinct points with
integer coordinates in the xy plane.
Show that the midpoint of the line joining at least 1 pair of
these points has integer coordinates.

(x1, y1)
( (x1+ x2 )/2 , (y1+ y2 )/2 )
(x , y )

Copyright 2 Peter
2 Cappello 2011

Exercise 10 Solution
1.

(xj + xi)/2 is integer if xj & xi are both odd or both even.

2.

(yj + yi)/2 is integer if yj & yi are both odd or both even.

3.

Put each ordered pair into 2 x 2 = 4 categories:

1. x odd, y odd
2. x odd, y even
3. x even, y odd
4. x even, y even

4.

With 5 distinct ordered pairs, at least 1 category has 2 points.

A line connecting 2 points in the same category has a midpoint with integer
coordinates.
Copyright Peter Cappello

Exercise 30
Show: If there are 100,000,000 wage earners in the US
who earn < $1,000,000, there are 2 with the same
income, to the penny.
(Assume each wage earners income > 0.)

Copyright Peter Cappello

Exercise 30 Solution
Show that if there are 100,000,000 wage earners in the US who earn
< $1,000,000, there are 2 with the same income, to the penny.
Solution:

Assume that each income is > 0.

Denominate the incomes in pennies.

The smallest possible income is 1.

The largest possible income is $999,999.99 = 99,999,999.

Since there are more wage earners (100,000,000) than distinct

income values (99,999,999), at least 2 must earn the same income.
Copyright Peter Cappello

Exercise 40
There are 51 houses on a street.
Each house has an integer address between 1000
and 1099, inclusive.
Show that at least 2 houses have consecutive
addresses.

Copyright Peter Cappello

Exercise 40 Solution
There are 51 houses on a street. Each house has an integer
address between 1000 and 1099, inclusive.
Show that at least 2 houses have consecutive addresses.
Solution:

Partition the address space into 50 intervals:

[1000, 1001], [1002, 1003], , [1098, 1099].

Associate each of the 51 addresses with an interval.

There are more addresses than intervals.

At least 1 interval is associated with 2 distinct addresses.

Copyright Peter Cappello

End

Copyright Peter Cappello

20
Find an increasing subsequence of maximal length and a
decreasing subsequence of maximal length in the sequence
22, 5, 7, 2, 23, 10, 15, 21, 3, 17.
Solution: Brute force.
5, 7, 10, 15, 21 is an increasing subsequence of length 5.
22, 10, 3 is a decreasing subsequence of length 3 (not unique).

Copyright Peter Cappello

10