Lesson 2: Solutions to the Pigeonhole Principle Problems
1: Show that at any party there are two people who have the same number of friends at the party (assume that
all friendships are mutual).
Solution: Let n be the number of people at the party. Each person can have 0, 1, · · · , n − 2 or n − 1 friends.
If all n people had a different number of friends, then one person would have 0 friends and another would
have n − 1. This is not possible since the person with n − 1 friends is friends with everyone at the party,
including the person with 0 friends.
2: Show that if 9 distinct points are chosen in the integer lattice Z3 , then the line segment between some two
of the 9 points contains another point in Z3 .
Solution: Reduce each of the 9 points modulo 2 to get 9 points in Z2 3 . Since Z2 3 only has 8 points, two of
the 9 points, say a and b, must be equal as elements of Z2 3 , and so a + b = 0 ∈ Z2 3 . This means that all
three entries of a + b ∈ Z3 are even and so the midpoint 21 (a + b) lies in Z3 .
3: Let S be a set of n integers. Show that there is a subset of S, the sum of whose elements is a multiple of n.
Solution: Let S = {a1 , a2 , · · · , an }. For each k = 1, 2, · · · , n, let sk = a1 + a2 + · · · + ak . Reduce each of the
numbers sk modulo n to get sk ∈ Zn . If some sk = 0 ∈ Zn then the sum sk is a multiple of n in Z. Otherwise,
two of the sums sk must be equal in Zn , say sk = sl with l > k. Then ak+1 +ak+2 +· · ·+al = sl −sk = 0 ∈ Zn ,
so the sum ak+1 + ak+2 + · · · + al is a multiple of n in Z.
4: Show that if 101 integers are chosen from the set {1, 2, 3, · · · , 200} then one of the chosen integers divides
another.
Solution: Let the chosen integers be a1 , a2 , · · · , a101 . For each k = 1, 2, · · · , 101 write ak = 2mk bk with bk
odd. The 101 numbers b1 , b2 , · · · , bn are all odd and lie in the 100-element set {1, 3, 5, · · · , 199}, and so some
pair of the numbers bk must be equal. Say bk = bl with mk ≤ ml . Then ak divides al .
5: Show that for some integer k > 1, 3k ends with 0001 (in its decimal representation).
Solution: Reduce each of the 10001 numbers 31 , 32 , 33 , · · · , 310001 modulo 10000. Some pair of powers 3k must
be equal in Z10000 , say 3k = 3l ∈ Z10000 with k < l. Since 3 is invertible in Z10000 we have 3l−k = 1 ∈ Z10000
and so in Z, the number 3l−k ends with 0001.
6: Let n be a positive integer. Show that there is a positive multiple of n whose digits (in the base 10
representation) are all 0’s and 1’s.
Solution: Let a1 = 1, a2 = 11, a3 = 111, a4 = 1111 and so on. Consider the n + 1 numbers a1 , a2 , · · · an+1 all
reduced modulo n. Some 2 of these must be equal in Zn , say ak = al ∈ Zn with k < l. Then al −ak = 0 ∈ Zn
so al − ak is a multiple of n, and notice that al − ak is of the form 11 · · · 100 · · · 0.
√
7: Show that some pair of any 5 points in the unit square will be at most 22 units apart, and that some pair
√
of any 8 points in the unit square will be at most 45 units apart.
Solution: Place the square with its vertices at ± 12 , ± 12 . The unit square can be covered by 4 closed discs,
√
each of diameter 22 , with centers at ± 14 , ± 41 . When 5 points are placed on the square, some two of them
√
must lie in the same disc, and these two points will be at most 22 units apart. The unit square can also be
√
covered by 7 closed discs, each of radius 45 , with centers at ± 41 , ± 38 . ± 12 , 0 and (0, 0). When 8 points
are placed in the unit square, some pair of them must lie in the same disc.
8: A salesman sells at least 1 car each day for 100 consecutive days selling a total of 150 cars. Show that for
each value of n with 1 ≤ n < 50, there is a period of consecutive days during which he sold a total of exactly
n cars.
Solution: Let n be an integer with 1 ≤ n < 50. For k = 1, 2, · · · 100, let ak be the number of cars sold
on the k th day, and let sk = a1 + a2 + · · · + ak . Notice that s1 < s2 < s3 < · · · < s100 = 150 and that
(s1 + n) < (s2 + n) < (s3 + n) < · · · < (s100 + n) = 150 + n < 200. Two of the 200 numbers in the set
{s1 , s2 , · · · , s100 } ∪ {(s1 + n), (s2 + n), · · · , (s100 + n)} must be equal. No two of the numbers sk are equal
and no two of the of the numbers (sl + n) are equal, and so we must have sk = sl + n for some k, l. Then
we have k > l and al+1 + al+2 + · · · + ak = sk − sl = n.
9: Show that there is a Fibonacci number that ends with 9999 (in its base 10 representation).
Solution: The Fibonacci numbers are a0 = 0, a1 = 1, a2 = 1, a2 = 2, a3 = 3 and so on with an+2 = an+1 +an .
We can also use the formula an = an+2 − an+1 to extend the sequence to include negative terms a−1 = 1,
a−2 = −1, a−3 = 2 and so on. Reduce all the (infinitely many) pairs (ak , ak+1 ) modulo 10000. Some two of
these pairs must be equal in Z10000 2 , say (ak , ak+1 ) = (al , al+1 ) ∈ Z10000 2 with k < l. From the recursion
formula an+2 = an+1 + an we see that ak+i = al+i ∈ Z10000 for all i ≥ 0. From the recursion formula
an = an+2 − an+1 we also see that ak+i = al+i ∈ Z10000 for all i < 0. Thus the Fibonacci sequence is periodic
in Z10000 , indeed we have ai = al−k+i ∈ Z10000 for all i ∈ Z. In particular, al−k−2 = a−2 = −1 ∈ Z10000 ,
and so al−k−2 ends with the digits 9999.
1
10: Determine whether the sequence converges.
n sin n
Solution: For each positive integer k we can find an integer nk ∈ 2πk + 2π 2π
√ √ 3 , πk + 3 (since this interval is
of size π3 > 1). Then nk > 2πk and sin nk ≥ 23 , and so nk sin nk ≥ 3πk, hence nk sin 1
nk ≤
√1
3πk
→ 0 as
1
k → ∞. This shows that if the sequence n sin n does converge, then its limit must be zero.
For an integer k, let k denote the real number with k ∈ [0, π) such that k = k + πl for some integer
π π
l. Note that for any positive integer m, we can find n with 1 ≤ n ≤ m such that n ∈ 0, m ∪ π− m ,π ;
π
indeed if none of the m numbers 1, 2, 3, · · · m were in the interval 0 m , then one of the m − 1 intervals
π 2π 2π 3π 3π 4π (n−1)π π
,
m m , ,
m m , ,
m m , · · · m , m would contain two of the numbers 1, 2, 3, · · · , m,
and ifsay nπ1 and
π
n2 were in the same interval with n1 < n2 , then we could take n = n2 − n1 and then n ∈ 0, m ∪ π − m , π .
π π
Choose m1 = 1 and n1 = 1. Having chosen mk and nk with 1 ≤ nk ≤ mk and nk ∈ 0, mk ∪ π − mk , π ,
π
choose mk+1 large enough so that mk+1 < min{1, π − 1, 2, π − 2, 3, π − 3, · · · , mk , π − mk }, then choose nk+1
π
with 1 ≤ nk+1 ≤ mk=1 so that nk+1 ∈ 0, mk+1 . Our choice of mk+1 ensures that nk+1 ∈ / {1, 2, 3, · · · , nk }
π π
1 1
so that nk+1 > nk . Also, we have nk ≤ mk and | sin nk | = sin nk ≤ sin mk ≤ mk , and so nk sin nk ≥ π .
1
This implies that the limit of the sequence n sin n cannot be 0, so it diverges.
