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ORDER AND RANKING

TIME SEQUENCE
TUTORIAL
By:RAHUL RITURAJ & VIVEK SINGH

2015
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Ordering and Ranking Arrangement

Ordering and Ranking Arrangement is an important topic from the point of view of SBI PO, SBI
Clerk, IBPS PO, IBPS Clerk, SSC, CAT and many other competitive exams. There are usually 35 questions in any exam from this topic. By following some simple shortcut tricks, you can
easily crack the questions in a matter of seconds. This can be helpful in boosting your reasoning
ability and, more importantly, your marks in the exam. Time is an important factor in qualifying
through these competitive exams, and short tricks are the only way to go about getting through
the Reasoning section with ease.
In ordering and ranking arrangement questions, position/rank of a person from left-right/topbottom of a row/class is to be determined or rank/position is given & total no. of persons is to be
calculated. You may also be asked to determine, using data given, which floor which person
lives on.
Note:
1) Read the statement line by line and apply the cases as explained below.
2) Position can be from either sides of row and rank is always from top or bottom of the row
Here, different types of ordering & ranking arrangement questions are explained below with the
help of different examples. By grasping each type, you can have a complete command over this
topic and ensure 3-5 marks in your kitty.
Type 1
1) Total number of persons = {(sum of positions of same person from both sides i.e. left and
right side) 1}
OR
2) Position of a person from opposite side = {(Total no. of persons Position of same person
from given side) +1}
E.g.1) In a row of persons, position of A from left side of the row is 27th and position of A from
right side of the row is 34th. Find total no. of persons in the row?
Solution:
Total no. of students = (Position of A from left + Position of A from right) -1
Total no. of students = (27 + 34) 1 = 61 1 = 60

E.g. 2) In a row of 16 persons, position of A from left side of the row is 12th. Find the position
of A from right side of the row?
Solution:

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Position of A from right side = {(Total no. of persons Position of A from left side) + 1}
Position of A from right side = (16 12) + 1 = 4 + 1 = 5th
Type 2
1) Total no. of persons = No. of persons after or before the given person in a row + Position of
same person from the other side
OR
2) No. of persons after or before the given person in a row = Total no. of persons Position of
same person from other side
E.g.1) In a row of persons, position of A from left side of the row is 27th and there are 5 persons
after A in the row. Find total no. of persons in the row?
Solution:
No. of persons in the row = Position of A from left + No. of persons after A
Total no. of persons = 27 + 5 = 32

E.g.2) In a row of 18 persons, position of A from left side of the row is 6th. Find the no. of
persons after A in the row?
Solution:
No. of persons after A = Total no. of persons Position of A from left
No. of persons after A in the row = 18 6 = 12
Type 3
When the positions of two persons are given from opposite ends and we know the total number
of persons, then two cases arise when trying to determine the number of persons between these
two persons
1. When there is no overlapping: i.e. the sum of positions of the two persons from opposite
ends < total number of persons
2. When there is overlapping: i.e. the sum of positions of the two persons from opposite
ends > total number of persons

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Case i)
No. of students between two different persons = Total no. of students (Sum of positions of two
different persons from opposite sides)
E.g.1) In a row of 54 persons, A is 15th from the left side of the row and B is 20th from the right
side of the row. Find the no. of persons sitting between A and B?
Solution: Here Sum of positions of A & B from opposite ends = 15 + 20 = 35 < Total no. of
persons
No. of persons between A & B = Total no. of students (Position of A from left + Position of
B from right)
No. of persons between A & B = 54 (15+20) = 54 35 = 19
Case ii)

No. of students between two different persons = (Sum of positions of two different persons from
opposite sides) Total no. of students 2
E.g.1) In a row of 54 persons, A is 35th from the left side of the row and B is 22nd from the right
side of the row. Find the no. of persons sitting between A and B?
Solution: Here Sum of positions of A & B from opposite ends = 35 + 22 = 57 > Total no. of
persons
No. of persons between A & B = (Position of A from left + Position of B from right) Total
no. of students 2
No. of persons between A & B = (35+22) 54 2 = 57 54 2 = 1
Type 4
If total no. of students is to be calculated and positions of different persons from any side are
given then it is always a case of cannot be determined or data inadequate or cant say. This
is because we do not know if there is overlapping or not.
E.g. In a row Position of A from left side of the row is 18th and position of B from right side of
the row is 25th. Find the total no. of students in the row?
Solution: Cannot be determined as position of different persons is given from the same side.

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Type 5
Positions of two persons is given and their positions are interchanged and after interchanging
position of 1st person is given from same side as before interchanging
Position of 2nd person from the same side as before interchanging = Position of 2ndperson
from same side before interchanging + (Position of 1st person after interchanging
position of 1st person before interchanging from same side)
To find total no. of students Find the person whose position from both sides can be
depicted from the statement. Add both his positions from opposite ends and subtract 1.
To find no. of persons between them Difference in the position of common person
whose position from same side before and after interchanging is given then subtract 1
E.g. A and B are standing in a row of persons. A is 18th from left side of the row and B is
24th from right side of the row. If they interchange their positions A becomes 31st from left. Find

1. i) New position of B from right side

ii) Total no. of persons
iii) No. of persons between A & B
Solution:
1. i) New position of B from right side = Position of B from right side before interchanging
+ (Position of A from left side after interchanging Position of A from left side before
interchanging)
New position of B from right side = 24 + (31 18) = 24 + 13 = 37th

ii) Total no. of persons = (As position from right before interchanging + As position from
left
before interchanging) 1
Total no. of persons = (Bs position from right after interchanging + As position from left
before interchanging) 1
Total no. of persons = (24 + 31) 1 = 55 1 = 54
of A

iii) No. of persons between A & B = (Position of A from left after interchanging Position
from left before interchanging) 1

No. of persons between A & B = (31 18) 1 = 13 1 = 12

Type 6
If positions of two different persons are given from opposite sides of the row and a third person
is sitting exactly in middle of the two and total no. of persons in the row is to be calculated as
1. i) When position of third person sitting is given from either side of row

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2. ii) When position of third person is given from either of the two persons between whom
he/she is sitting
Then find the position of the 3rd person from both sides of the row and hence find total no. of
persons according to type 1
E.g. 1) In a row of persons, position of A from left side of the row is 9th & position of B from
right side of the row is 8th.If C is sitting just in middle of A & B and position of C from left side
of the row is 15th. Find the total no. of persons in the row?
Solution: Position of C from left is 15th and A from left is 9th so there are (15 9 1 = 5)
persons are sitting between A and C. As C is sitting in middle of A and B so there must also be 5
persons sitting between B and C.
Thus position of C from right = Position of B from right + 5 + 1 = 8 + 6 = 14th
Total no. of students = (Sum of positions of C from both sides 1)
Total no. of students = (15 + 14) 1 = 29 1 = 28

E.g. 2) In a row of persons, Position of A from left side of the row is 11th and B from right side
of the row is 19th. If C is sitting just in middle of A & B and position of C from A is 7th. Find
total no. of persons in the row?
Solution: Position of C from Left = Position of A from left + Position of C from A = 11 + 7 =
18th
Given C is 7th from A and C is sitting in middle of A and B then also C is at 7th position from B
Position of C from right = Position of B from right + Position of C from B = 19 + 7 = 26th
Total no. of students = (Sum of position of C from both sides 1)
Total no. of students = (18 + 26) 1 = 44 1 = 43
Type 7
In the questions where it is asked to find minimum no. of persons in a row then it is always a
case of overlapping i.e. given positions of persons from either sides overlap each other.
Then
Minimum no. of persons = Sum of positions of persons from both sides Persons between them
2

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E.g. If position of A from left side of a row is 15th and position of B from right side of a row is
19th and only 1 person is sitting in middle of A & B. Find the minimum number of persons that
can be seated in this row?
Solution: Total no. of persons = 15 + 19 1 2 = 31

Type 8
These are ordering type questions. In this type of question, it is given that there are several
people living in an n-storey building. Some information will be given about the relative positions
of one above or below the other. You need to find which floor each person lives on. These are
almost similar to seating arrangement questions. However, you may be required to apply the
rules you learnt above, in these problems.
Type -1: Rajesh is 12th from both ends of a row. How many candidates are there in the row?
This is an Easy problem.
Since Rajesh is 12 from both sides of the row. It means 11 persons are to his left and 11 are to his
right. He is 12th from both ends. So total candidates are 11+1+11=23 candidates Ans.
Let us move on to little difficult problem now.
Type -2: Sahib is 12th from left and 15th from right end of a row. How many persons are there in the
row?
Shortcut trick to the solution of the problem is simple.
Just add the two given numbers and subtract 1 from them. You will find the number of person in the
row.
Total persons in the row= 12+15-1=26 persons.
Let us move on to more difficult problems now.
Type -3: Mukesh and Suresh are standing in a queue. Mukesh is 9th from left and Suresh is 6th from
right. When both interchange their positions, Mukesh becomes 15th from left. Find out new position
of Suresh from right end.
Ranking test Shortcut trick to solve this problem is given below.
Mukeshs position changes from 9th to 15th from left end. So there is an increase of 6 ranks. Since
Mukesh and Suresh both interchanged their positions, so there must be the same increase in rank of
Suresh position from right.
So Suresh position= 6+6=12th from right Ans.
So determine the increase or decrease in position of common end and add the increase or subtract
the decrease.
WE HAVE MANY AWESOME SHORTCUT TRICKS FOR ALL COMPETITIVE EXAMS. FOR THEM,
See SITEMAP given on top of site.
Type -4: Sonu and Monu are standing in a row of boys. Sonu is 14th from left and Monu is 7th from
right. If both interchange their positions, Monu becomes 15th from the right. Find out the total
number of boys in that row.
The ranking test problem can easily be solved by the shortcut trick given below.
Find out the common person whos position is given two times. In this question, Monus position
changes from 7 to 15 from right. Since he is at 15th position after interchanging, so it means 14
boys are to his right. Now Monu is at Sonus position which is 14th from left means 13 boys are to his
left.
Add all these left and right means 14+13+1(Monus own position)= 28 boys in row Ans.

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NUMBER RANKING

Exercise
1. How many 1s are there in the following sequence which are immediately preceded by 9 but
not immediately followed by 7?
7 101 17 189 171 213 145 713 917
1. one
2. two
3. three
4. four
2.
How many 9s are there in the following sequence which are preceded by 6 but not
immediately followed by 3?
6 937 696 396 469 476 669 367 692 96
1. 2
2. 3
3. 4
4. 5
3.
Nikhil ranks 15 in the class of 35. What is his rank from the last?
1. 20
2. 22
3. 19

4. 21

4.
How many 7s are there in the following sequence which are immediately preceded by 5
but not immediately followed by 3? 3 7 5 7 4 5 7 3 9 7 5 8 7 7 8 9 7 1 5 7 6 5 7 4 3 7 5 7 3
8
1. One
2. Two
3. Three
4. Four
5.
Hamilton is 5 months younger to Simon while Bob is 3 months younger to Auden. When
Shetty was born Bob was 2 months old. Auden is 5 years old and Hamilton is 6 years old. Who
among the following is the oldest?
1. Simon
2. Bob
3. Auden
4. Shetty
6.
How many odd numbers are there in the following series, which are followed by 1 and
preceded by 2?
1 320 045 688 910 231 502 135 160
1. 1
2. 2
3. 4
4. 6
7.
If the position of the first and the sixth digits of the sequence of numbers 5 3 1 7 6 8 9 2
0 4 are interchanged, the second and seventh and so on, which number would be sixth from the
right end?
1. 3
2. 1
3. 6
4. 4
8.
How many 7s immediately preceded by 6 but not immediately followed by 4 are there in
the following series?
7 427 543 675 357 843 767 241 674 3
1. 1
2. 2
3. 4
4. 6
9.
In a row of boys, if Arun who is 12th from left and Ajay 8th from right inter change their
positions. Ajay becomes 14th
from the right end. How many boys are there in that row?

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4. 21

10. How many 8s are in the following number sequence which are not preceded by 7 but
immediately followed by 4?
8 747 847 784 778 847 484 788 844 784 448 847 874
1. One
2. Two
3. Three
4. Four
11. How many 7s are there in the following sequence which are immediately preceded by 1s
and not immediately followed by 3s?
9 851 731 765 637 714 617 593 174 461 733 781 72
1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4
12. How many 2s are there in the following number sequence which are immediately
preceded by 3 but not immediately followed by 0?
3 322 322 303 202 332 230 320 332 203 203 23
1. One
2. Five
3. Three
4. Four

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13. Ravi ranked 13th from the top and 26th from the bottom among those who passed in the
annual examination in a class.
If 6 students have failed in the examination, what was the total number of students in the class?
1. 45
2. 44
3. 47
4. 46
14. In the following series of numbers, find out how many times 1, 3 and 7 have appeared
together, 7 being in the middle and 1 and 3 on either side of 7.
2 973 173 771 331 738 571 377 173 906
1. 3
2. 4
3. 5
4. More than 5
15. How many 5s preceded by 6 and not immediately followed by 8 are there in the following
series?
5 825 683 655 355 883 565 280 658 3
1. 1
2. 2
3. 4
4. 6
16. How many 3s are there in the following number sequence which are immediately
preceded by 6 but not immediately followed by 7? 2 3 7 4 3 2 6 3 7 4 6 3 8 9 6 3 5 1 8 3 7
242 863 9
1. One
2. Two
3. Three
4. Four
17. In the given series how many times it is that the sum of two consecutive numbers is 8.
1 837 471 942 648 37
1. 2
2. 4
3. 6
4. 7

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18. In a row of girls Sunitha is 12th from the left and 9th from the right. How many girls are
there in the row?
1. 21
2. 20
3. 22
4. 19
19. How many 6s are there in the following sequence which are immediately preceded by 8
but not immediately
followed by 4? 4, 7, 5, 6, 9, 1, 6, 8, 4, 7, 3, 4, 8, 6, 3, 9, 6, 7, 8, 6, 4, 7, 3, 5, 8, 6, 1
1. 3
2. 4
3. 5
4. 2
20. Below in the given a number series
1 857 298 436 275 189 436 50
How many instances are there in which an even number is followed by two odd numbers?
1. Three
2. One
3. Two
4. None
21. How many 8s are present in the following sequence of number which are preceded by 5
but not immediately
followed by 3? 5 8 3 7 5 8 6 3 8 5 4 5 8 4 7 6 5 5 8 3 5 8 7 5 8 2 8 5
1. 3
2. 4
3. 5
4. 7
22. How many even numbers are there in the following series, which are followed by an odd
number and preceded by an even number?
4 157 258 496 825 413 29
1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. None of these
23. In a row of 30 boys when Prasad shifted right by 3 places he became 15th place from the
right. What was his position from left before he shifted?
1. 12
2. 13
3. 11
4. 10
24. Kesav ranks thirteenth in a class o twenty six. What is his rank from the last?
1. 13
2. 14
3. 15
4. 16
25. How many 6s are there in the following number sequence each of which is immediately
followed by an even
number and immediately preceded by an odd number?
3 625 632 632 627 646 586 764 268
1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4

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26. How many 4s immediately preceded by 5 but not immediately followed by 7 are there in
the following series of
number? 5 4 8 7 4 9 5 4 7 7 4 5 5 4 6 5 4 7 5 4 7 3 2 4 7
1. 2
2. 3
3. 4
4. 5
27. At a parking place 36 vehicles are parked in a single row. After the first car there is one
scooter after the second car there are two scooters and after the third car there are three scooters
so on. Work out the number of scooters in the second half of the row.
1. 10
2. 12
3. 18
4. 17
28. How many 3s are present in the following sequence of number which are preceded by 2
but not followed by 4?
1 234 231 443 223 123 143 123 4
1. 4
2. 5
3. 6
4. None
29. In a row of boys, Sumit is fifteenth from the left and seventh from the right. How many
boys are there in t he row?
1. 21
2. 27
3. 29
4. 31
30. In a certain series given below count each 5 which is not immediately preceded by 3 but
immediately followed by 7.
How many such 5s are there?
1 573 574 737 256 585 745 655 715 775 5
1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4
31. Ajays position in a row is thirteenth from the front side and sixth from the back side. How
many persons are standing in that row?
1. 17

2. 18

3. 19

4. 20

32. How many 7s immediately preceded by 6 but not immediately followed by 4 are there in
the following series?
7 427 643 675 357 843 76 7 240 674 3
1. 1
2. 2
3. 4
4. 6
33. How many 2s are there in the following series, which are immediately preceded by 9 but
not followed by 7?
7 524 292 729 254 257 291 27
1. 1
2. 2
3. 34
4. 0
34. Some students are sitting in a single row. John is sitting 14th from the left and Joseph is
7th from the right. What is the total number of the students?
1. 21
2. 20
3. 19
4. Cant be
determined

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35. What will be the middle digit of the middle number after the following numbers are
arranged in descending order?
268, 197, 678, 129, 259
1. 6
2. 9
3. 2
4. 5
36. How many 7s are there in the following sequence which are preceded by 4 but not
immediately followed by 2?
4 727 235 974 752 479 478 471
1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4
37. How many 7s are there in the following series, which are immediately preceded by 5 and
followed by 4?
1 573 475 748 574 321 771 579 174
1. 2
2. 4
3. 3
4. None of these
38. Vijay ranks seventh from the top and 28th from the bottom in a class. How many students
are there in the class?
1. 34
2. 35
3. 36
4. 37
39. How many 8s are there in the following sequence which are immediately preceded by 6
but not immediately followed by 5? 6 8 5 7 8 5 4 3 6 8 1 9 8 5 4 6 8 2 9 6 8 1 3 6 8 5 3 6
1. One
2. Two
3. Three
4. Four
40. Rasheed ranked 17th from the top and 36th from the bottom among those who have
passed in the annual examination in a class. If six students have failed in the annual examination,
what was the total number of students in that class?
1. 59
2. 60 3. 61 4. 58

Answers

1) 2
2) 2
3) 4
4) 3
5) 1
6) 1
7) 4
8) 2
9) 1
10) 4

11) 4
12) 2
13) 2
14) 1
15) 2
16) 3
17) 1
18) 2
19) 4
20) 3

21) 2
22) 2
23) 2
24) 2
25) 3
26) 1
27) 3
28) 4
29) 1
30) 4

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31) 2
32) 2
33) 1
34) 2
35) 4
36) 4
37) 1
38) 1
39) 3
40) 1

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