Algebra - 3

Contents
 Inequality
 Functions
QA - 19
CEX-Q-0220/22

Number of questions : 33

1. How many integer v alues of x satisfy 5. How many of the following statements is/are
universally true?
x 1 5 x  4 A. If x > a; y > b then x – y > a – b
  ?
3 7 5 B. If x > a then x2 > a2
(1) 0 (2) 1 C. If a < x/c < b then ac < x < bc
(3) 2 (4) 4 (1) 0 (2) 1
(3) 2 (4) 3
2. If 20X < Y, 23(X – 1) > Y, and 21X + Y = 500,
X and Y are both positive integers, the value 6. The solution set of 2x2 – x – 3 < 0 in the set
of all real numbers x such that
of X is
(1) 10 (2) 11 3 3
(1) x < 1, x <  (2) >x>1
(3) 12 (4) 13 2 2
3
(3) –1 < x < (4) –1 < x < 5
2 2
3. If 3  p 10 and 12  q  21, then the difference
between the largest and smallest possible 7. What values of x satisfy x2/3 + x1/3 – 2  0
p (x is a real number)?
values of is (1) – 8  x  1 (2) – 1  x  8
q
29 29 (3) 1 < x < 8 (4) 1  x  8
(1) (2)
42 5
19 19 8. How many integers a are there such that
(3) (4) 9x2 + 3ax + (a + 5) > 0 for all values of x?
70 12
(1) 7 (2) 8
(3) 9 (4) 10
4. Given that –1  v  1, –2  u  – 0.5 and

vz 9. The range of values of x which satisfy the

– 2  z  – 0.5 and w = , then which of the
u x2  17x  72
inequality  0 is
following is necessarily true? (CAT) 2x 2  x  18
(1) – 0.5  w  2 (2) – 4  w  4 (1) x  9 or x  8 (2) 8  x  9
(3) – 4  w  2 (4) – 2  w  – 0.5 (3) x  9 (4) x  8

QA - 19 Page 1
10. If x < y, then which of the following is always
true? 1
17. y . Find the range of values of x, if
9  x2
 x  y xy
(1) x   y (2) x  y y is real.
2 2
(3) x < y2 – x2 < y (4) x < xy < y (1) 0  x  3
(2) x  3 or x  3
11. How many integers satisfy the condition
(x + 10) (x + 7) (x + 4) (x – 4) (x – 7) < 0? (3) x  3 or x  3
(4) None of these
12. What is the solution set for (x – 1) (x – 2)
(x – 3) (x – 4) > 0?
18. y  15  x 2  2x . Find the range of values
13. f(x) = (x2 – 100)(x2 – 81)(x2 – 64)...(x2 – 1) of x if y is real.
< 0. How many values of x are possible that
(1) x  5 or x  3 (2)  15  x  15
p
satisfy the above inequality, where x  , (3) 5  x  3 (4) 4  x  4
q
p is any natural number and q  2.
(1) 20 (2) 10 19. If a, b, c are real numbers and f(x) = ax2 +
(3) 19 (4) 9 bx + c such that a + b + c = 3 and f(x + y)
= f(x) + f(y) + xy for all real x and y,
14. If f(x) denotes x3 + 3x2 + 3x, find f(x + 1).
10
(1) x3 + 4x2 + 5
(2) 2x3 + 6x2 + 3
then  f(n) is equal to
n 1
(3) 3x3 + 12x2 + 4x + 1
(4) x3 + 6x2 + 12x + 7 (1) 165 (2) 190
(3) 255 (4) 330
15. Set A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}; Set B = { a, b, c, d}
A. How many elements are there in A × B ? 20. A function is defined as
B. How many one – one functions can be
made from A to B ? x  y, if x  y  1

C. How many onto functions can be made f(x, y) = 0, if x  y  1
from A to B ? xy, if x  y  1


16. Let X = {a, b, c} and Y = {1, m}. Consider the where, x and y are real numbers.
following four subsets of X × Y.
 1 3
F1 = {(a, 1), (a, m), (b, 1), (c, m)},F2 = {(a, 1), If f  x,  = , then which of the following
 2  4
(b, 1), (c, 1)}, F3 = {(a, 1), (b, m), (c, m)} & F4
= {(a, 1), (b, m)} can be the value of x?

1 3
W hich one, amongst the choices is a (1) (2)
representation of functions from X to Y? 4 2
(1) F2 and F3 (2) F1, F2 and F3 3
(3) (4) Both (1) and (2)
(3) F2, F3 and F4 (4) F3 and F4 4

Page 2 QA - 19
21. Let f(x) = 210 x + 1 and g(x) = 3010 x –1.
If (fog) (x) = x, then x is equal to 4x
25. Let f(x)  , then
4x  2
310  1 210  1
(1) 10 (2) 10
3  210 2  3 10  1   2 
f  f
 1996 
 f 
   is equal
 1997   1997   1997 
1  310 1  210 to
(3) 10 (4) 10
2  3 10 3  210 (1) 1 (2) 997
(3) 998 (4) 996

1 26. Let f (x) be a f unction satisf ying

22. If f(x)  , where [ ] represents
2 2
| x  [x] | f(x)f(y)  f(xy) for all real x, y. If f(2) = 4,
the greatest integer less than or equal to x,
 1
then what is the domain of f(x)? then what is the value of f   ?
 2
(1) All real numbers
(2) All integers 1
(3) All rational number (1) 0 (2)
4
(4) All real numbers except integers
1
(3) (4) 1
Directions for questions 23 and 24: For a real 2

 1
 , if x is non  negative  1 
number x, let f(x)  1  x If 3f  x  2   4f 
27.   4x,x  –2 , then
1  x, if x is negative  x  2
f(4) =
and fn(x) = f(f n – 1(x)), for n = 2, 3, …
52
(1) 7 (2)
7
23. W hat is the v alue of the product,
(3) 8 (4) None of these
f(2) f2(2) f3(2) f4(2) f5(2)?

1
(1) (2) 3
3 0, when x  1

28. If f  x   – 1, when x  2
1 1, when x is an odd prime number
(3) (4) None of these 
18
and f(xy) = f(x) + f(y), then find the value of
24. r is an integer > 1. Then, what is the value of f(1995) ?.
f r – 1(–r) + f r(–r) + f r + 1(–r)? (1) 3 (2) 4
(1) –1 (2) 0 (3) 5 (4) None of these
(3) 1 (4) None of these

QA - 19 Page 3
Directions for questions 29 and 30: 31. A ‘polynomial f(x) with real coefficients satisfies
(CAT)  1
the f unctional equation f  x  . f  
f 1(x) = x, when 0  x  1  x
= 1, when x  1  1
 f  x   f   . If f(2) = 9, then f(4) is
= 0, otherwise  x
f 2(x) = f 1(– x) for all x (1) 82 (2) 17
(3) 65 (4) None of these
f 3(x) = – f 2(x) for all x
f 4(x) = f 3(– x) for all x
32. Suppose, a function f is defined over the set
of natural numbers as follows: f(1) = 1,
29. How many of the following products are
f(2) = 1, f(3) = –1, and f(n) = f(n – 1) f(n – 3)
necessarily zero for every x
for n > 3. Then the value of f(694) + f(695) is
f 1(x)f 2(x), f2(x)f 3(x), f2(x)f 4(x)?
(1) –2 (2) –1
(1) 0 (2) 1
(3) 1 (4) 2
(3) 2 (4) 3
33. A periodic function f satisfies f(x + a) (1 – f(x))
30. Which of the following is necessarily true?
= 1 + f(x) for some constant a. The period
(1) f 4(x) = f 1(x) for all x
of f is
(2) f 1(x) = – f 3(– x) for all x
(1) a (2) 2a
(3) f 2(– x) = f 4(x) for all x
(3) 3a (4) 4a
(4) f 1(x) + f 3(x) = 0 for all x

Page 4 QA - 19
 QA - 19 : Algebra - 3 CEX-Q-0220/22
Answers and Explanations

1 4 2 3 3 1 4 2 5 1 6 3 7 1 8 3 9 1 10 1
11 – 12 – 13 2 14 4 15 – 16 1 17 4 18 3 19 4 20 4
21 4 22 4 23 4 24 2 25 3 26 2 27 4 28 2 29 3 30 2
31 3 32 4 33 4

value, the numerator has to be the maximum positive

x 1 5
1. 4   7x – 7 < 15  7x < 22  x < 3.333… value and the denominator has to be the smallest
3 7 negative value. In other words, vz has to be 2 and u
has to be –0.5.
5 x4
Again,  25 < 7x + 28  –3 < 7x
7 5 vz 2
Hence, the minimum value of = = –4.
x > –3/7 u 0.5
Hence, x = 0, 1, 2, 3 To get the maximum value, vz has to be the smallest
negative value and u has to be the highest negative
2. 3 From the first and the third equations, value. Thus, vz has to be –2 and u has to be –0.5.
20X < 500 – 21X
vz 2
8 Hence, the maximum value of = = 4.
41X < 500 X < 12 u 0.5
41
From the second and the third equations, 5. 1 A. Not always true.
23(X – 1) > 500 – 21X Example: If x = 3 & y = 4; a = 0 and b = –10 ( false)
But if x = 3 & y= 4; a = -10 and b = 0 (true)
39
44X > 523  X > 11 B. Not always true. For example, if x = 1 and a = –10
44 (false) but if x = 4 and a = 3 (true)
Since X is an integer, X = 12 C. True only if c > 0

Alternative method:
Use answer choices. 6. 3 2x2  2x  3x  3  0
One should pick 2nd option first as it is there in two
2 xx  1  3x  1  0
options. If we try 2nd option firs t and it gives
contradiction then two options gets eliminated. x  12 x  3   0
So, take X = 11 and Y comes out to be 269 which
gives contradiction. Now, try the third option which is 3
 x  1
the answer. 2

p 10 5 7. 1 x2/3 + x1/3 – 2  0  x2/3 + 2x1/3 – x1/3 – 2 0

3. 1 Maximum value of  
q 12 6
  
 x1/ 3  1 x1/ 3  2  0  – 2  x1/3  1
p 3 1 –8x1
Minimum value of  
q 21 7
Alternative method:
5 1 29 We can use the options.
So, difference =   .
6 7 42 take x = –1 which satisfies the equation.
So, option (3) and (4) eliminated.
Now, take x = 8 which contradicts the equation.
4. 2 u is always negative. Hence, for us to have a minimum
So, option (2) got eliminated.
vz Hence, answer is option (1).
value of , vz should be positive. Also, for the least
u

QA - 19 Page 1
8. 3 If 9x2 + 3ax + (a + 5) > 0 for all values of x,
then the discriminant of this quadratic expression must 14. 4 f(x) = x 3  3x2  3x
be negative. f(x +1) = x  13  3x  12  3x  1
 (3a)2 – 4(9) (a + 5) < 0
 a2 – 4a – 20 < 0 3  2
 
= x  1  3 x  3 x  3 x  1  2x  3 x  3
 (a – 2)2 < 24
= x3  6x2  12x  7
 – 2.89  a  6.89
 a = –2, –1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 Alternative method:
Hence, there are 9 such integral values. We can solve this question by giving value to x. e.g.
put x = 1 then
f(x + 1) = x3 + 3x2 + 3x
x 2  17x  72  f(2) = 23 + 3(2)2 + 3 × 2 = 26
9. 1 We have 0
2x 2  x  18 put x = 1 in the options
Hence, option (4) is the answer.
or x2  17x  72  0 ( 2x 2  x  18  0)
or (x – 9)(x – 8)  0 15. A. Number of elements in A × B = 5 × 4 = 20
B. No one-one function is possible from A to B
or x  9 or x  8 because number of elements in set A is greater
than the number of elements in set B.
C. Since set A contains 5 elements and set B contains
 X  Y 4 elements, so we will first divide 5 elements of
10. 1 It is very apparent that the answer is (a), as
2 set A into four groups i.e. 10 ways.
is the average of X and Y and should always lie Now, these four groups can be paired with the 4
between X and Y. elements of set B in 4! ways.
So, number of onto function from A to B = 10 × 4!
Alternative method: = 240.
Take any value of X and Y and try with the options.
e.g. try X = 1 and Y = 0 16. 1 In case of F1, a is paired with 1 and m both, which
violates the condition for being a function. So, F1 is not
11. (x + 10)(x + 7)(x + 4)(x – 4)(x – 7) < 0 a function. Whereas in case of F4, c (an element of x)
does not belong to any value of set Y. So, it is not a
–ve +ve –ve +ve –ve +ve
function. F2 and F3 satisfy all the conditions, so option
–10 –7 –4 4 7 (1) is correct.
for –ve value of the given expression, x = 5, 6, – 5,
–6 and all the integers less than –10.
17. 4 If y is real, 9 – x2 > 0  (3 + x) (3 – x) > 0
So, x can take infinitely many values.
 –3 < x < 3
12. Let, y = (x – 1)(x – 2)(x – 3)(x – 4) > 0
The points where y = 0 are x = 1, 2, 3, 4
18. 3 If y is real, 15  x 2  2x  0  x 2  2x  15  0
+ve –ve +ve –ve +ve
 (x  5)(x  3)  0  5  x  3
1 2 3 4
For any value of x in the set ( ,1)  (2,3)  (4,  ), 19. 4 Since f(x + y) = f(x) + f(y) + xy
the value of y would be +ve.  a(x + y)2 + b(x + y) + c = ax2 + bx + c + ay2 + by +
c + xy
13. 2 f(x) = (x – 10)(x + 10)(x – 9) (x + 9) ...(x – 1) (x + 1) < 0  2axy + c = xy + 2c
which is possible if c = 0 and a = 1/2
+ – + –+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
–10 –9 –8 –7 –6 –5 –4 –3 –2 –1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 5
 a+b+c=3b= 2
p
x . x2 5
q So, f(x) =  x
2 2
19 15 11 7 3 3 7 11 15 19 10
So, x  , , , , , , , , , . 1  n(n  1)(2n  1)  5  n(n  1) 
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 Now,  f(n)  2  6   2 2 
  
n1

Page 2 QA - 19
 24. 2 Here –r is negative.
(n  8)n(n  1)
= So, the given expression becomes
6 f1(–2) + f2(–2) + f3(–2)
Put n = 10 = –1 + f(–1) + f3(–2) = –1 + 0 + f(0)
10
18  10  11 1
= –1 + 0.
 f(n)  6
 330. 1 0
n1
Thus option (2) is correct.

1 3
20. 4 Substituting x = and from the options, we find 4x
4 2 25. 3 Since, f(x) = x
4 2
that the given condition is satisfied.
4 
1 x
 1 3 2
 f  x,    f(1 – x) = 1 x
 x
 2 4 4 2 4 2
So, x + y can be greater than 1 or less than 1 as well. So, f(x) + f(1 – x) = 1
We need to check by options.
 1   1996 
 f f 1
10  1997   1997 
21. 4 f(g(x)) = x  f(3 x – 1) = x
So, 210(310x – 1) + 1 = x
 2   1995 
 210 × 310x – 210 + 1 = x f f  1 ..... and so on
 1997   1997 
1  210 1  2 10 So, required sum = 998.
 10 10
 x  x  10 .
1 2 3 3  210
26. 2 f(x).f(y) = f(xy)
22. 4 If x is an integer, [x] = x. Given, f(2) = 4
1 We can also write,
 will not be a real number when x is an f(2) = f(2 × 1) = f(2) × f(1)
| x  [x]2 |
2
or f(1) × 4 = 4
integer.  f(1) = 1
Now we can also write,
1  1  1
f(1)  f  2    f(2)  f  
23. 4 Since 2 is a non-negative number, so f(x) =  2 2
(1  x)
 1  f(1) 1
1 (1  x)  f    .
f 2 (x)  f(f(x))    2  f(2) 4
1 (2  x)
1
(1  x)
 1 
27. 4 3f  x  2   4f    4x
1 (2  x)  x  2
f 3 (x)  f(f 2 (x))  
 1  x  (3  2x) Putting x = z – 2, we get
1 
 2  x   1
3f  z   4f    4z – 8 …(i)
z
1 (3  2x) 1
f 4 (x)  f(f 3 (x))   Now replacing z with in the above equation, we get
 2  x  (5  3x) z
1 
 3  2x 
 1 4
3f    4f  z    8 …(ii)
z z
5 4 1 5  3x
f (x)  f(f (x))   From (i) and (ii),
 3  x  8  5x
1 
 5  3x  1 16 
f  z    – 8 – 12z 
7 z 
1 2 1 1  16 
So, f(2) × f2(2) f3(2) f4(2) f5(2) =  f  x  2   – 8 – 12(x  2)
(8  5  2) 6 7  (x  2) 
(Note: here we don’t need to write all the term, as 1 16  52
f 4   – 8 – 12  4    .
denominator of one term is getting cancelled by the 7 4  7
numerator of next term.) Hence, option (4) is the right choice.

QA - 19 Page 3
28. 2 f(1995) = f(15 × 133) = f(3) + f(5) + f(7) + f(19) 32. 4 f(x) = f(x – 1) f(x – 3)
= 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 4. f(4) = –1.1 = –1
f(5) = –1.1 = –1
29. 3 f1f2  f1(x)f1(–x) f(6) = –1.–1 = 1
f(7) = 1.–1 = –1
– x 0  –x  1 f(8) = –1.–1 = 1
 f(9) = 1.1 = 1
f1(–x)   1 –x  1
0 f(10) = 1.–1 = –1
 otherwise
f(11) = –1.1 = –1
f(12) = –1.1 = –1
– x –1  x  0 f(13) = –1.–1 = 1

1 x  –1 f(14) = 1.1 = –1
0 otherwise f(15) = –1.–1 = 1

Here, after every multiple of 7, we are getting two
f1f1(–x)  0, for all x one’s.
Since 694 = 7k + 1 and 695 = 7k + 2,
Similarly, f2f3  –(f1(–x))2  0 for some x So, f(694) + f(695) = 1 + 1 = 2.

f2 f4  f1(–x). f3 (–x)
1  f(x) f(x  a)  1
33. 4 f(x + a) =  f(x)
 –f1(–x) f2 (–x) 1  f(x) f(x  a)  1
 –f1(–x) f1(x)  0, for all x x  (x  a)

30. 2 Checking with options: f(x  2a)  1 1  f(x  a)

f(x + a) =  f(x  2a) 
Option (2): f(x  2a)  1 1  f(x  a)
f3 (–x)  –f2 (–x)  –f1(x)  f1(x)  –f3 (–x), for all x.
1  f(x)
1
n 1  f(x) 1
31. 3 Assume f(x) = x + 1  f(x + 2a) = 
1  f(x) f(x)
1
 1 1 1  f(x)
and f    1
 x  xn
Again, x  (x  a)
 1  1 
x
n

So, f  x  .f    x  1 
 x n 
 1
 1 f(x)  1
 f(x + 3a) = 
f(x  a) f(x)  1
 1 
 
 1  xn  
x
n
 1
 Again, x  (x  a)

 1 1  f(x)
 f x  f   1
x f(x  a)  1 1  f(x)
f(x + 4a) = 
f(x  a)  1 1  f(x)
Now f  x   xn  1  9 1
1  f(x)
 xn  8  n  3
f(x + 4a) = f(x)
 f  x   x3  1  Period of f(x) is 4a.
Hence, f(x) = 43 + 1 = 65.

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