Why is my logic flawed when trying to find two numbers with a difference of 11?

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The discussion revolves around the flawed logic in finding two numbers with a difference of 11 using the pigeonhole principle. The original poster mistakenly assumes that all integers except 1 and 100 can be paired in two pigeonholes, leading to an incorrect count of numbers. Upon reevaluation, they realize that numbers between 1 to 11 and 90 to 100 must be excluded, resulting in a total of 88 numbers for 89 pigeonholes. This correction highlights that while there are more numbers than holes in some cases, it does not guarantee a pair with the required difference. The conclusion emphasizes the importance of accurately accounting for all relevant numbers in such problems.
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1. Homework Statement
http://math.stanford.edu/~vakil/putnam07/07putnam1.pdf
I am working on number 6.

Consider the the ordered pairs (1,12),(2,13),...,(89,100). There are 89 of them. These are the pigeon holes.

There are 55 numbers between 1 to 100 and each of them flies to one or two pigeon holes. So split all of the pigeons not equal to 1 and 100 in half to get at least 108 pigeons. Then we have 108 pigeons flying to 89 holes. So there must be two numbers that differ by 11.

What is wrong with my logic?


2. Homework Equations



3. The Attempt at a Solution
 
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So split all of the pigeons not equal to 1 and 100 in half to get at least 108 pigeons.
Why?
 
Because every integer except 1 and 100 is in exactly 2 of the order pairs.
 
But that's not true.
 
Oh. So I need to exclude 1 to 11 and 90 to 100 which makes 22 numbers, right? So we have at least 55*2 - 22 = 88 numbers going to 89 pigeonholes, so they can fit each fit in a different one and even leave 1 open.

But in the case of 10 you have more pigeons than pigeonholes.

I am not sure about 12, though...
 
I tried to combine those 2 formulas but it didn't work. I tried using another case where there are 2 red balls and 2 blue balls only so when combining the formula I got ##\frac{(4-1)!}{2!2!}=\frac{3}{2}## which does not make sense. Is there any formula to calculate cyclic permutation of identical objects or I have to do it by listing all the possibilities? Thanks
Since ##px^9+q## is the factor, then ##x^9=\frac{-q}{p}## will be one of the roots. Let ##f(x)=27x^{18}+bx^9+70##, then: $$27\left(\frac{-q}{p}\right)^2+b\left(\frac{-q}{p}\right)+70=0$$ $$b=27 \frac{q}{p}+70 \frac{p}{q}$$ $$b=\frac{27q^2+70p^2}{pq}$$ From this expression, it looks like there is no greatest value of ##b## because increasing the value of ##p## and ##q## will also increase the value of ##b##. How to find the greatest value of ##b##? Thanks

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