Question

A, B, C, D, E and F are sitting around a circular table, facing the centre. E sits third to the right of A. C sits to the immediate left of F. F is not an immediate neighbour of A. B sits to the immediate right of D. The position of how many persons will remain unchanged, if all the persons are arranged in the English alphabetical order in the clockwise direction, starting from A (including A)?

• A. One
• B. Four
• C. Two
• D. Three

Answer 1

Answer:

C. Two

The position of 2 persons (A and B) will remain unchanged.

Let's place the 6 people around the circular table in positions 1 to 6 in a clockwise direction. Facing the center means Clockwise = Left and Counter-Clockwise = Right.

1. "E sits third to the right of A":

   • Let's place A at position 1.

   • Moving 3 places to the right (counter-clockwise) places E at position 4 (directly opposite A).

2. "C sits to the immediate left of F" and "F is not an immediate neighbour of A":

   • Since F cannot be next to A (positions 2 or 6), and cannot be at position 3 (because its left, position 4, is already taken by E), F must be at position 5.

   • The immediate left (clockwise) of F is position 6, so C is at position 6.

3. "B sits to the immediate right of D":

   • The only remaining empty slots are positions 2 and 3.

   • To have B to the immediate right (counter-clockwise) of D, D must be at position 3 and B must be at position 2.

Initial Clockwise Arrangement:

• Position 1: A

• Position 2: B

• Position 3: D

• Position 4: E

• Position 5: F

• Position 6: C

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Comparison with Alphabetical Order

Now, we rearrange everyone in alphabetical order (A, B, C, D, E, F) in a clockwise direction starting from A:

Position	Initial Arrangement	New Alphabetical Arrangement	Status
Position 1	A	A	Unchanged
Position 2	B	B	Unchanged
Position 3	D	C	Changed
Position 4	E	D	Changed
Position 5	F	E	Changed
Position 6	C	F	Changed

Only A and B retain their original spots.