11/22/2016 CATQuantitativeAptitude:WhataretheIIMslookingfor?

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CATQuantitativeAptitude:What
aretheIIMslookingfor?
BULLSEYE
ThisarticledealswiththeovertandcovertdimensionsoftheCAT
QuantitativeSection.Overtisthedimensionwhichisapparent,
obviousandseemingwhilecovertisthedeeperandlatent
dimension.Thiskindofadichotomoustreatmentwillenableyouto
appreciatethattheCATQuantitativeSectionisnotmerelyatestof
discretemathematicskills,butatruemeasureofyourmanagerial
potential!

QuestionsintheCATQuantitativeSectioncanbealignedintothe
followingfourdistinctmodules:

Arithmetic:NumberSystem,Ratio&Proportion,Percentage,
Profit&Loss,Mixtures,Averages
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11/22/2016 CATQuantitativeAptitude:WhataretheIIMslookingfor?

Algebra:LinearEquations,SimultaneousEquations,
QuadraticEquations,TimeSpeedDistance,TimeWork

Geometry:LinesAngles,Triangles,Quadrilaterals&Higher
Polygons,Circles,3DFigures,Trignometry,Coordinate
Geometry

ModernMath:Probability,Permutations&Combinations,
Logarithms,Functions,SetTheory

Letustakeaquestionfromeachofthesefourmodulesandvalidate
thefactthatunderstandingthecovertvibeinthequestionis
imperativeforyoutoestablishastrongerconnectionwiththe
questionandensureasmootherhandlingthereof.

Q.1.Whatistheremainderwhen232
isdividedby7?
ThefollowingisaquestionisfromNumberSystem(Arithmetic),
oneofthemostwidelyexhaustedquestionpoolsintheCAT.

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11/22/2016 CATQuantitativeAptitude:WhataretheIIMslookingfor?

Thestartingpointforthiskindofaquestionistounderstandthatit
callsforastrategicapplicationratherthanamechanicalexploration
ofthedivisibilityprocess.Asyoustartdividingsubsequentpowers
of2by7youwillrealizeapatternof2,4,1emergingwithacyclicity
of3.Thusgettingtheremainderof232by7willentaildividing32
(theindexof2)by3(whichisthecyclicity)andcheckingforthe
remainder.Theremainderof32beingdividedby3willyield2as
theremainderandinthepattern2,4,1thisconformstothesecond
numberinthesequence,whichis4.Thustheansweris4.

Overtly,itisatestofArithmeticasgaugedthroughyourabilityto
processnumbersbutcovertlyitisatestofyourabilityto
understandsymmetry,patternsandformations,whichfacilitatesa
betterunderstandingofbusinessprocesses,humanbehaviorand
marketsastheyallevolvearoundthisgoldenprincipleofnature
symmetry!

Q.2.Deepaenteredafloristshopand
bought'x'flowersfor'y'rupees(xand
yareintegers).Ifshehadbought10
moreflowers,shewouldhavegotall

forRs.2andsaved80paiseadozen.
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11/22/2016 CATQuantitativeAptitude:WhataretheIIMslookingfor?

forRs.2andsaved80paiseadozen.
Findxandy.
1.x=3,y=2

2.X=4,y=1

3.X=5,y=1

4.Noneofthese

ThisquestionisapparentlybasedonthetopicofEquations
(Algebra),statingacorrelationbetweenrupeesspentandflowers
bought.Thestartingpointofthisquestionistounderstandthatif
'x'flowersareboughtfor'y'rupeesandx+10boughtfor2rupees,
then'y'willhaveavaluelessthan2theonlyintegersatisfyingthis
conditionis1.Hencethevalueofyis1,whichwillhelpyouto
eliminateoption1astheanswer.Further,keepinginmindthe
savingas80paiseadozenwillyieldthefollowingequation:

(1/x)(2/(x+10))=0.8/12=1/5

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11/22/2016 CATQuantitativeAptitude:WhataretheIIMslookingfor?

Fromtheoptions,itcanbequicklyinferredthatthevalueofxis5.
Henceanswerisoption3.Overtly,itisatestofyourabilityto
solveequations,butcovertlyitisareflectionofyourabilityto
correlatevariablesintorelationships,askillwhichhelpsmanagers
tounderstandbusinesschallengesmoreinsightfully.

Q.3.Asolidsphericalballiscutinto
eightidenticalpiecesbythree
mutuallyperpendicularplanes.The
proportionoftheareaofanyofthese
piecestotheareaoftheuncutsolid
sphericalballis
ThisquestionisvisiblysourcedfromtheGeometryModule.The
startingpointistoimaginethewaythesphereiscutintoeight
identicalpiecesbythethreeorthogonalplanes.Thiswillyield8
quadrants,4ineachhemisphere.Theskillhereistoformavisual
imageryandappreciatethefactthateachsuchquadrantwillhave3
cutsurfacesand1uncutsurface.Further,eachofthethreecut
surfacesisofacircleandwillthereforehaveanareaequaltoone
fourthofthatofacirclewhiletheuncutsurfacewillhaveanareaof
oneeighthofthatofthesphere(asthereare8suchquadrants).

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Nowjustaddthetwoareasanddividetheresultbythetotalsurface
areaofthespheretogettherequiredratioas5/16.Thusthis
questionisnotjustatestofGeometrybutofyourabilityto
understandspacewhichisanalogoustodecodingthemarketspace
inacompetitivebusinessscenario,andhencebecomescovertly
connectedwithmanagerialaptitude.

Q.4.Adiebearingthenumbers
0,1,2,3,4,5onitsfacesisrepeatedly
thrownuntilthetotalofthethrows
exceeds12.Whatisthemostlikely
totalthatwillbethusobtained?

ThisquestionisseeminglyextractedfromthetopicofProbability
whichislargelyperceivedtobeaproblemareainMathandmay
thuskeepcertaincandidatesawayfromattemptingit.

Acarefulscrutinyhoweverrevealsthatthequestionisonlyatrap
wovenaroundwordsandcanbeeasilysolvedbyconsideringthe
penultimatethrow(thethrowbeforethelastthrow).Thetotalat
theendofthepenultimatethrowneedstobeoneofthefollowing:

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11/22/2016 CATQuantitativeAptitude:WhataretheIIMslookingfor?

8,9,10,11,12.Eachofthesewouldsolicitdifferentoutcomesinthe
lastthrowforthetotaltoexceed12,asshown:

8thepossiblevalueofthefinalthrowcanbeonly5,makingthe
total13(hencemorethan12)

9thepossiblevaluesofthefinalthrowcanbe5and4making
thetotal14and13respectively

10thepossiblevaluesofthefinalthrowcanbe5,4and3making
thetotal15,14and13respectively

11thepossiblevaluesofthefinalthrowcanbe5,4,3and2
makingthetotal16,15,14and13respectively

12thepossiblevaluesofthefinalthrowcanbe5,4,3,2and1
makingthetotal17,16,15,14and13respectively

Thusthemostlikelytotaltobeobtainedinthisprocessis13
(commontoalloutcomes)hencetheansweris13.

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Inconclusion,itisimportanttounderstandthatthevarious
modulesintheCATQuantitativeSectionapparentlypose
mathematicalchallenges,butatamoreevolvedandcovertlevel,
theycanbeseenasopportunitiesforsolvingmanagementproblems
camouflagedintheMathenvelope!

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