Order And Ranking Reasoning are an important topic in Reasoning Exam to be prepared for competitive exams be it for IBPS Clerk, PO, RRB, SO, or SBI Clerk or PO Exams. The number of questions and the complexity of questions varies from exam to exam every year.
Order And Ranking Reasoning are simple to understand but it can be made complex using multiple statements. Examples of Order And Ranking Reasoning and Practice questions on Order And Ranking Reasoning are also given in this article.
Nowadays, questions in exams are mixed with multiple concepts and it requires practice and deep understanding of basic concepts along with quickly identifying patterns.
Table of Contents
What is Order and Ranking Reasoning?
Order and Ranking Reasoning is a process of arrangements of things or objects as per given instructions. Arrangements can be done horizontally or vertically, which depends on question to question.
Steps to Solve Order and Ranking Reasoning
Below are the steps to solve Order and Ranking Reasoning Questions:
- Read the question line by line and don’t read full question in one go.
- Identify which type of Order or Ranking is asked in question. Either it’ll be Horizontal or Vertical.
- Decide the empty skeleton for filling the data from question.
- Consider all scenarios and remove all the wrong options and left with correct one.
- Consider all the possible scenarios, else conclusion will be wrong.
- Re-validate the answer, either by calculating total.
6 Simple Logic to Solve Order and Ranking Reasoning Questions
1st Logic
The total number of persons or objects in a queue or sequence is one less than the sum of the positions of the same person from both the ends either it’s from right and left or top and bottom. Let’s understand Order and Ranking Reasoning Questions with the help of the below example:
Example 1: In a queue of persons, the position of Raj from the starting of the row is 27th, and the position of Raj from the end side of the queue is 34th. Find the total number of students in the queue?
Solution 1: Total number of students:
=> (Position of Raj from start + Position of Raj from end) -1
=> Total number of students = (27 + 34) – 1 = 61 – 1 = 60.
2nd Logic
The total number of persons in a queue or row is the sum of the number of persons before or after the given person in a queue or row and the position of the same person from the other side. Let’s understand with the help of the below example:
Example 2: Position of Raj from the start of the queue is 27th and there are 5 persons behind him in the queue. Find the total no. of persons in the queue?
Solution 2: No. of persons in the queue = Position of Raj from start + No. of persons behind Raj
=> Total no. of persons = 27 + 5 = 32
3rd Logic
If the total number of persons in the queue is given along with the positions of two persons are given from the opposite ends is also given in the question. This type of problem can have two scenarios to consider before solving it. Below are two scenarios:
- Overlapping Scenario: In this scenario position of two-person overlap each other when counting from each end. The number of persons between two different persons = (Sum of positions of two different persons from opposite sides) – Total number of persons – 2.
- Non-Overlapping Scenario: In this scenario position of two-person don’t overlap or have some more persons in between them when counting from each end. The number of persons between two different persons = Total number of persons – (Position of the person from left + Position of the person from left)
Example 3: There are 24 students in a queue, Raj is standing at 9th position from the starting and Ravi is standing at 22nd position from the end. Find number of students standing between Raj and Ravi?
Solution 3: As per the question we can clearly say that this question is of overlapping scenario. Hence putting values in equation as below:
=> Number of persons in between = (9 + 22) – 24 – 2 => 31 – 24 – 2 => 5.
4th Logic
The position of the two persons are given and the later new position are given after their positions are interchanged.
The position of the 2nd person from the same side as after interchanging = Position of 2nd person from the same side before interchanging + (Position of 1st person after interchanging – position of 1st person before interchanging from the same side)
Example 4: Raj and Ravi and are standing in a row of people. Raj is 18th from the left side of the row and Ravi is 24th from the right side of the row. If they interchange their positions Raj becomes 31st from left. Find:
- The new position of Ravi from the right side
- The total number of peoples in a row.
- The number of people standing between Raj and Ravi.
Solution 4.1: The new position of Ravi from the right side = Position of Ravi from the right side before interchanging + (Position of Raj from the left side after interchanging – Position of Raj from the left side before interchanging)
New position of Ravi from right side = 24 + (31 – 18) = 24 + 13 = 37
The new position of Ravi is 37th.
Solution 4.2: There are two ways to solve these types of questions. The total number of persons between A and B can be found in two different ways:
Before Interchanging:
Total no. of persons = (A’s position from right + A’s a position from left) – 1
After Interchanging:
Total no. of persons = (B’s position from right + A’s a position from left before interchanging) – 1
As per the above scenarios, we can use any formula in which all the given values are available in the question. In the given question we can see that the second scenario is appropriate to get results.
Total number of peoples in between = (Raj’s position from right after interchange + Ravi’s position from left before interchange) – 1
=> 31+24 -1 = 54.
Solution 4.3: To find the total number of people between any two persons. No. of persons between A & B = (Position of A from left after interchanging– Position of A from left before interchanging) – 1.
The total numbers of peoples between Raj & Ravi = (Position of Raj from left after interchanging– Position of Ravi from left before interchanging) – 1
=> (31 – 18) – 1 = 13 – 1 = 12.
5th Logic
When position of two persons from opposite sides in a row is known and there’s a third person in the middle of the two persons. Then the total number of persons can be calculated based on the position of the third object.
With the above statement there can be two different scenarios, as given below:
- When the position of the third person is known from both sides.
- When the position of the third object is known from either of the sides.
Example 5: In a queue Raj and Ravi both are standing apart from each other. Raj’s position from starting was 22nd and Ravi’s position from the end was 15.
Mr. X is standing in between Raj and Ravi, there are 5 persons in between Mr. X and Raj and 7 persons in between Mr. X and Ravi. Find the total number of persons in the queue?
Solution 5: From the above question position of Mr. X can be determined from the starting point of queue and ending point of queue.
=> Mr. X position from Starting = Raj position + No of persons between Raj and Mr. X. => 22 + 5 => 27
Hence 27 persons are standing in front of Mr. X.
=> Mr. X position from end = Ravi position + No of persons between Ravi and Mr. X. => 15 + 7 => 22
Hence 22 persons are behind in front of Mr. X.
Total persons in queue = > 27 + Mr. X + 22 => 49
Note: Before attempting to solve see this question on of non-overlapping scenario.
6th Logic
To find the minimum number of persons in the queue. Use the below formula:
The Minimum number of persons = Sum of positions of persons from both sides – Persons between them – 2.
Example 6: If the position of A from the left side of a row is 17th and the position of B from the right side of a row is 18th and only 3 people are sitting in the middle of A & B. Find the minimum number of persons that can be seated in this row?
Solution 6: The total number of persons = 17 + 18 – 3 – 2 = 30.
Practice Questions on Order and Ranking Reasoning
Below are the Practice Questions on Order and Ranking Reasoning:
- Ravi ranked 48th from the bottom and 6th from the top among those who passed an exam. Seven boys did not participate in the exam and twelve failed in it. How many boys were there in the class?
- Rajesh is 5th from right end and Ramesh is 15th from left end. If they interchange their places Ramesh becomes 24th from left end then what is number of students ?
- In a queue of students, Amar and Anita are standing at 10th and 8th position from the left and right end respectively. If another student Kirti who is 12th from the left end is exactly in between Amar and Anita then find the position of Kirti from right end ?
- In a row of people Raj is 7th from end of row. Dev is 10 ranks above Raj. If Dev is 8th from start, then how many people are there in this row?
- Amar is standing in a line of boys and is 31st from the front. The trainer asks everyone to turn around by 180 degree. Now Amar is 12th from the front. How many boys are there in the line?
Final Words
Practicing the above Order and Ranking reasoning practice questions is not the end of your practice, but it’s the start of a new journey to apply logic on Order and Ranking Reasoning Questions with multiple approaches in a right and faster way.
For cracking competitive exams one must practice more and more Order and Ranking Reasoning Questions. At last, during the exam, if a solution for the Order and Ranking Reasoning Questions cannot be found easily then mark that question to revisit and move ahead instead of wasting time and energy.