1994 AMC 12 Problem 19

Attempt Problem 19 of the 1994 AMC 12 below, then check your answer against the professionally curated solution from LIVE by Po-Shen Loh. You can also try the full timed exam, view all 1994 AMC 12 solutions, or check the answer key.

All problems are used with official legal permission of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA).

19.

Label one disk “11,” two disks “22,” three disks “33,” …,\ldots, fifty disks “5050.” Put these 1+2+3+⋯+50=12751+2+3+\cdots+50=1275 labeled disks in a box. Disks are then drawn from the box at random without replacement. The minimum number of disks that must be drawn to guarantee drawing at least ten disks with the same label is
1010
5151
415415
451451
501501
Answer: C
Concepts:pigeonhole principleextremal counting
Small hint:
Count the most disks that can be drawn while taking at most nine of each label
Big hint:
All disks labeled 11 through 99 may be drawn, but only nine of each label 1010 through 5050
Solution:
To avoid ten equal labels, one may draw all 1+2+⋯+9=45 1+2+\cdots+9=45 disks with labels below 10,10, and at most 99 from each of the 4141 labels 1010 through 50.50. Thus 45+9(41)=41445+9(41)=414 disks can be drawn without forcing ten alike, and the next draw guarantees them. The minimum is 415.415. Thus the correct answer is C.
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