THE PIGEONHOLE PRINCIPLE

If k is a positive integer and k + 1 or more objects are

placed into k boxes, then there is at least one box containing
two or more of the objects.

Example
If Kn+ 1 (where k is a positive integer) pigeons are
distributed among n holes than some hole contains at least k +
1 pigeons.

Applications of Pigeonhole Principle:

This principle is applicable in many fields like Number
Theory, Probability, Algorithms, Geometry, etc.
Problems and Solutions:
Problem 1
A bag contains beads of two colours: black and white.
What is the smallest number of beads which must be drawn
from the bag, without looking so that among these beads,
two are of the same colour?

Solution: We can draw three beads from bags. If there were

no more than one bead of each colour among these, then
there would be no more than two beads altogether. This is
obvious and contradicts the fact that we have chosen their
beads. On the other hand, it is clear that choosing two beads
is not enough. Here the beads play the role of pigeons, and
the colours (black and white) play the role of pigeonhole.
Problem 2
Find the minimum number of students in a class such that three
of them are born in the same month?

Solution: Number of month n =12

According to the given condition,

K+1 = 3

K=2

M = kn +1 = 2*12 + 1 = 25.
THE GENERALIZED PIGEONHOLE PRINCIPLE
If N objects are placed into k boxes, then there is at least
one box containing at least N/k objects.

EXAMPLE
Among 100 people there are at least 100/12 = 9 who
were born in the same month.
EXAMPLE
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?

Solution: The minimum number of students needed to ensure

that at least six students receive the same grade is the smallest
integer N such that N/5 = 6.
The smallest such integer is N = 5 · 5 + 1 = 26. If you have
only 25 students, it is possible for there to be five who have
received each grade so that no six students have received the
same grade.
Thus, 26 is the minimum number of students needed to
ensure that at least six students will receive the same grade.
EXAMPLE During a month with 30 days, a baseball team plays at
least one game a day, but no more than 45 games. Show that there
must be a period of some number of consecutive days during which
the team must play exactly 14 games.

Solution: Let aj be the number of games played on or before the j th

day of the month. Then a1, a2, . . . , a30 is an increasing sequence of
distinct positive integers, with 1 ≤ aj ≤ 45.
Moreover, a1 + 14, a2 + 14, . . . , a30 + 14 is also an increasing
sequence of distinct positive integers, with 15 ≤ aj + 14 ≤ 59.
The 60 positive integers a1, a2, . . . , a30, a1 + 14, a2 + 14, . . . ,
a30 + 14 are all less than or equal to 59. Hence, by the pigeonhole
principle two of these integers are equal. Because the integers aj , j =
1, 2, . . . , 30 are all distinct and the integers aj + 14, j = 1, 2, . . . , 30
are all distinct, there must be indices i and j with ai = aj + 14. This
means that exactly 14 games were played from day j + 1 to day i.
THEOREM
Every sequence of n2 + 1 distinct real numbers contains a
subsequence of length n + 1 that is either strictly increasing or
strictly decreasing.

EXAMPLE
The sequence 8, 11, 9, 1, 4, 6, 12, 10, 5, 7 contains 10
terms. Note that 10 = 32 + 1.
There are four strictly increasing subsequences of length
four, namely, 1, 4, 6, 12; 1, 4, 6, 7; 1, 4, 6, 10; and 1, 4, 5, 7.
There is also a strictly decreasing subsequence of length
four, namely, 11, 9, 6, 5.