How many sticks must he choose so that he is guaranteed a matching pair?

Question

suppose sam has 12 black, 3 blue, 4 green, 2 yellow, 2 orange, 6 pink and 7 red chopsticks. how many sticks must he choose so that he is guaranteed a matching pair?

Answer 1

To ensure a 100% match, you would have to choose 8 sticks (maximum).

You could choose one of each of the sticks with 7 picks but the next pick would have to be a match!