Pairs of numbers

Consider the numbers 3 , 8 , 13 , 103 , 108. 3, 8, 13,… 103, 108. What is the smallest value of n such that every collection of n of these numbers will always contain a pair which sums to 121?

13 11 17 9

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1 solution

Maggie Miller
Jul 18, 2015

A collection can have n 12 n\le 12 : just pick the first n n .

Note 3 3 and 8 8 are the only listed numbers who aren't part of a pair of numbers listed that sums to 121 121 . the rest of the numbers ( 13 , 18 , , 103 , 108 13,18,\ldots,103,108 ) form 10 10 disjoint pairs that sum to 121 121 . By the pigeonhole principle, if we pick more than 12 12 numbers from the list, we must pick two numbers who sum to 121 121 . Therefore, the answer is 13 \boxed{13} .

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