A box contains 3 blue marbles, 4 red marbles, and 5 green marbles. What is the minimum number of marbles you must blind-draw to guarantee getting at least two marbles of the exact same color?
4 marbles
By the Pigeonhole Principle, if there are 3 possible colors (categories) and you draw 4 marbles (pigeonholes + 1), at least one color must have a pair.
About this riddle
Math riddles hide a calculation inside a short story. Pull out the numbers, work out what is being asked, and watch for a trick such as a unit change.
Difficulty: Medium. More like this: Math riddles with answers or try Target 24 for a different kind of puzzle.
More math riddles
I am a number greater than zero. If you cube me, the result is equal to nine times me. What number am I?
Three people check into a hotel room that costs $30. They each pay $10. Later, the manager realizes there was a discount and the room actually cost $25. He gives the bellboy $5 to return to the guests. The dishonest bellboy pockets $2 and gives $1 back to each of the three guests. Now, each guest has paid $9 (total $27), and the bellboy has $2. That equals $29. Where is the missing dollar?
I am the smallest positive whole number that can be evenly divided by every single integer from 1 through 10 without leaving any remainder. What number am I?
I am a two-digit number. My tens digit is twice my units digit. If you subtract 27 from me, my digits flip. What number is this?
If you take away 2 apples from a basket containing 5 apples, how many apples do you physically have in your possession?
Mia has 4 flags. Kai has twice as many. How many flags do they have together?

