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Best of Handa ka funda
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Version 1.01
RAVI HANDA
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PREFACE
Over the past few years, I have written a bunch of articles for various websites like Pagalguy.com, Minglebox.com, GyanCentral.com, MBAUniverse.com, Rediff.com, InsideIIM.com, etc. It becomes very difficult for me to keep track of all of them. So I thought it would be much better if I compiled all of them in a PDF and put it up for download. And that is exactly what I have done. I will keep on updating this PDF from time to time to include the latest posts. Please do provide feedback about the same at my email or my number given below. Please check out my online CAT coaching course here: http://www.wiziq.com/course/9277-lr-vr-di-ds-speed-calculationsquant-general-awareness
Some of its key features are: 150+ Videos for clarity in concepts 60 Live Classes for doubt clarification Entire Quant, LR & DI Syllabus Course Designed for CAT 2013 (Updated after CAT 12) Use Coupon Code CATEB11 to get 11% OFF
Ravi Handa ravihanda@gmail.com, +91- 9765142632 , +91- 9637446417 Version 1.02, Date: 1st April 2013.
INDEX
Divisibility Rules Factor Theory Dealing with Factorials Basic Ideas of Remainders Cyclicity of remainders Basic applications of remainder theorem Remainders Advanced Number of Trailing Zeros Determining second last digit Maxima and Minima in Quadratic and other polynomials Basics of functions and modifications of graphs Roots of an Equation Number of Integral solutions Basics of Time,Speed and Distance Motion of two bodies in a straight line Clocks Fundamental Principles Dealing with Percentages - 1 Dealing with Percentages Part 2 Geometry Fundas -1 Geometry Fundas -2 Permutation &Combination - Fundamental principles of counting Permutation &Combination - Distribution of objects Set Theory - Maximum and minimum values Dealing with 4 Sets Problems based on Grids and Chess Boards Introduction to Probability Cubes and Matchstick Problems Games and Tournaments - 1 Games and Tournaments - 2 Tips for easy and fast calculations Basics of Data Interpretation - Approximation Introduction to Data Sufficiency General Awareness - Awards, Medals and Prizes (Part 1) General Awareness - Awards, Medals and Prizes (Part 2) Head of Bodies National and International
Number System
Algebra
Arithmetic
Geometry
Modern Maths
Logical Reasoning
Data Interpretation / Data Sufficiency
General Knowledge
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Extra Fundas
NUMBER SYSTEMS
Divisibility Rules
The concept of divide and conquer, derived from the Latin phrase Divide et impera, was put into use effectively by everyone from Caesar to Napoleon to The British in India. Even Gaddafi tried using the same but as current events show us he wasnt ve ry effective. Dividing rather divisibility rules to be specific can come in really handy at times in solving problems based on Number Systems. The standard rules which nearly all of us are very comfortable with are the ones for 2 n and 5n. For these all that one needs to do is look at the last n digits of the number. If the last n digits of a number are divisible by 2n or 5n, then the number is divisible by 2n or 5n and vice versa. For details about other numbers, I suggest that you read on.
Funda 1: For checking divisibility by p, which is of the format of 10n 1, sum of blocks of size n needs to be checked (Blocks should be considered from the least significant digit ie the right side). If the sum is divisible by p, then the number is divisible by p. Eg 1.1 Check if a number (N = abcdefgh) is divisible by 9 9 is 101 1 Sum of digits is done 1 at a time = a + b + c + d + e + f + g + h = X If X is divisible by 9, N is divisible by 9 Also, N is divisible by all factors of 9. Hence the same test works for 3.
Eg 1.2 Check if a number (N = abcdefgh) is divisible by 99 99 is 102 1 Sum of digits is done 2 at a time = ab + cd + ef + gh = X If X is divisible by 99, N is divisible by 99 Also, N is divisible by all factors of 99. Hence the same test works for 9, 11 and others.
Eg 1.3 Check if a number (N = abcdefgh) is divisible by 999 999 is 103 1 Sum of digits is done 3 at a time = ab + cde + fgh = X If X is divisible by 999, N is divisible by 999 Also, N is divisible by all factors of 999. Hence the same test works for 27, 37 and others.
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For checking divisibility by p, which is of the format of 10n + 1, alternating sum of blocks of size n needs to be checked (Blocks should be considered from the least significant digit ie the ri ght side). If the alternating sum is divisible by p, then the number is divisible by p. ( Alternating Sum: Sum of a given set of numbers with alternating + and signs. Since we are using it to just check the divisibility, the order in which + and signs are used is of no importance.)
Eg 1.1 Check if a number (N = abcdefgh) is divisible by 11 11 is 101 + 1 Alternating sum of digits is done 1 at a time = a - b + c - d + e - f + g - h = X If X is divisible by 11, N is divisible by 11 Eg 1.2 Check if a number (N = abcdefgh) is divisible by 101 101 is 102 + 1 Alternating sum of digits is done 2 at a time = ab - cd + ef - gh = X If X is divisible by 101, N is divisible by 101
Eg 1.3 Check if a number (N = abcdefgh) is divisible by 1001 1001 is 103 + 1 Sum of digits is done 3 at a time = ab - cde + fgh = X If X is divisible by 1001, N is divisible by 1001 Also, N is divisible by all factors of 1001. Hence the same test works for 7, 11, 13 and others.
Funda 3: Osculator / seed number method For checking divisibility by p, Step 1: Figure out an equation such that
If we have this equation, the osculator / seed number for p will be +m in case of 10m 1)
. (-m in case of 10m+1 and
Step 2: Remove the last digit and multiply it with the seed number.
Step 3: Add the product with the number that is left after removing the last digit.
Step 4: Repeat Steps 2 and 3 till you get to a number which you can easily check that whether or not it is divisible by p.
Eg: Check whether 131537 is divisible by 19 or not. 19*1 = 10*2 1 (Seed number is +2) 133 is divisible by 19 131537 is divisible by 19 I hope that these divisibility rules will enable you to divide and conquer few of the Number Systems problems that you encounter during your preparation.
Factor Theory
I understand that the title might be a little misleading but at least I could not come up with something better. So before you end up getting disappointed, let me first list down the topics that I am going to cover in this particular blogpost: Number of factors of a given number Number of even factors or odd factors of a given number Sum of all factors of a given number Sum of all even factors or odd factors of a given number
We know that a number N can be written as a product of its factors as given below N = ap x bq x cr Here a,b,c are prime factors of N & p,q,r are the powers of the prime factors of N.
In such a case the number of factors of N are given by the formula
The obvious question which arises is, why this formula in particular. It is actually a game of choices and options available. Let us see how. Suppose you are going on a camping trip and you have packed all the necessary items. Now you are wondering how many movie DVDs, music CDs & MP3 players you should take. ( Please do not judge me by the example. I have no experience about camping trips but I guess that is obvious by the example mentioned). In your collection, you have 5 movie DVDs, 4 music CDs and 2 MP3 players.
Try to answer these questions: 1. 2. 3. 4. How many choices / options do you have for the number of movie DVDs that you can take? How many choices / options do you have for the number of music CDs that you can take? How many choices / options do you have for the number of MP3 players that you can take? Are the answers to all the above questions independent of each other?
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1. 6 ( You can take either 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 Movie DVDs. You also have the option of not taking a movie DVD at all.) 2. 5 ( You can take either 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 Music CDs. You also have the option of not taking a music CD at all.) 3. 3 ( You can take either 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 MP3 players. You also have the option of not taking a MP3 player at all.) 4. Yes. All answers are independent of each other. So, what is the total number of options / choices do you have while packing for the camping trip? Answer = 6 x 5 x 3 = 90 If you understood the above example, the number of factors formula should be a piece of cake. Consider a number N = 25 x 34 x 52 It means that you have: 2,2,2,2,2 && 3,3,3,3 && 5,5 Any combination of the above will make a factor. You have 6 choices for picking up the number of 2s in a factor, 5 choices for picking up the number of 3s in a factor and 3 choices for picking up the number of 5s in a factor.
So, the total number of factors = 6 x 5 x 3 = 90.
Now, for finding out the number of even factors consider the camping trip case. If one of your friends insists that he wants to watch Twilight while on the camping trip and you should bring the movie DVD because you own a copy. (Once again I will restrain myself and not pass a judgement on you or your friend or the choice of the movie) So, in this case the number of choices for picking up the movie DVD has reduced from 6 to 5 because you HAVE TO bring the Twilight DVD. So, the total number of choices that you have now is 5 x 5 x 3 = 75 Same logic can be extended to finding out the number of even factors. Number of even factors = 5 x 5 x 3 = 75 {Because your factor has to contain at least one 2, analogous to the twilight DVD} Number of odd factors = 5 x 3 = 15 {In this case, your factor cannot contain any 2s, analogous to not being allowed to take a movie DVD}
As a matter of fact, if you have the total number of factors and the total number of even factors; their difference would directly give you the total number of odd factors. Such logic can be extended to find out the number of factors divisible by a particular number. Number of factors divisible by 12 = 4 x 4 x 3 = 48 {In this case, your factor will have to contain at least two 2s and one 3}
We know that a number N can be written as a product of its factors as given below N = ap x bq x cr Here a,b,c are prime factors of N & p,q,r are the powers of the prime factors of N.
In such a case the sum of factors of N are given by the formula
The logic remains the same in this case also. If you expand the above expression, you will end up with all the factors. For N = 25 x 34 x 52 Sum of all factors Sum of all the even factors
Sum of all the odd factors Sum of all the factors divisible by 12
I hope that this post was helpful and you will not face any problems in finding out the number of factors and related stuff. Course Details: http://bit.ly/handaCAT13
Dealing with Factorials

We all know what factorials (n!) are. They look friendly and helpful but looks can be deceiving, as many quant problems have taught us. Probably it is because that Factorials are simple looking creatures, most students prefer attempting questions based on them rather than on Permutation & Combination or Probability. I will cover P&C and Probability at a later date but in todays post I would like to discuss some fundas related to factorials, which as a matter of fact form the basis of a large number of P&C and Probability problems.
Some of the factorials that might speed up your calculation are: 0! = 1; 1! = 1; 2! = 2; 3! = 6; 4! = 24; 5! = 120; 6! = 720; 7! = 5040.
Funda 1: Rightmost non-zero digit of n! or R(n!) R(n!) = Last Digit of [ 2a x R(a!) x R(b!) ] where n = 5a + b Eg 1.1: What is the rightmost non-zero digit of 37! ? R (37!) = Last Digit of [ 27 x R (7!) x R (2!) ] R (37!) = Last Digit of [ 8 x 4 x 2 ] = 4 Eg 1.2: What is the rightmost non-zero digit of 134! ? R (134!) = Last Digit of [ 226 x R (26!) x R (4!) ] R (134!) = Last Digit of [ 4 x R (26!) x 4 ] We need to find out R (26!) = Last Digit of [ 25 x R (5!) x R (1!) ] = Last digit of [ 2 x 2 x 1 ] = 4 R (134!) = Last Digit of [ 4 x 4 x 4 ] = 4
Funda 2: Power of a prime p in a factorial (n!) The biggest power of a prime p that divides n! (or in other words, the power of prime p in n!) is given by the sum of quotients obtained by successive division of n by p. Eg 2.1: What is the highest power of 7 that divides 1342! [1342 / 7] = 191 [191 / 7] = 27 [27 / 7] = 3 Course Details: http://bit.ly/handaCAT13 Use coupon code CATEB11 to get 11% OFF
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As 6 is not a prime number, we will divide it into its prime factors. 3 is the bigger prime, so its power will be the limiting factor. Hence, we need to find out the power of 3 in 134! [134/3] = 44 [44/3] = 14 [14/3] = 4 [4/3] = 1 Power of 3 in 134! = 44 + 14 + 4 + 1 = 63
Eg 2.3: What is the highest power of 9 that divides 134! ? As 9 is not a prime number, we will divide it into its prime factors. 9 is actually 32. The number of 3s available is 63, so the number of 9s available will be [63/2] = 31. Highest power of 9 that divides 134! is 31. Highest power of 18 and 36 will also be 31. Highest power of 27 will be [63/3] = 21. Note: To find out the highest power of a composite number, always try and find out which number (or prime number) will become the limiting factor. Use that to calculate your answer. In most cases you can just look at a number and say that which one of its prime factors will be the limiting factor. If it is not obvious, then you may need to find it out for two of the prime factors. The above method can be used for doing the same.
Funda 3: Number of ending zeroes in a factorial (n!) Number of zeroes is given by the sum of the quotients obtained by successive division of n by 5. This is actually an extension of Funda 1. Number of ending zeroes is nothing else but the number of times n! is divisible by 10 or in other words, the highest power of 10 that divides n!. 10 is no t a prime number and its prime factors are 2 and 5. 5 becomes the limiting factor and leads to the above mentioned idea. Eg 3.1: What is the number of ending zeroes in 134! ? [134/5] = 26 [26/5] = 5 [5/5] = 1 Number of ending zeroes = 26 + 5 + 1 = 32
I hope that this gets you started with factorials and you might start singing this song.
Basic Idea of Remainders
Figuring out the last digit is the same as figuring out the remainder of a number when divided by 10, but I guess you already know that. Figuring out the last two digits is the same as figuring out the remainder of a number when divided by 100. However, if you wish to figure the remainder when the divisor is not 10 or 100, I suggest you read on. Funda 1: Basic idea of remainders can be used to solve complicated problems.
There is nothing special or unique about this idea. At first glance it seems like something really obvious. But it is its usage that makes it special and helpful in questions related to remainders. Let us look at couple of examples to see how this can be used effectively. In the first example we will see the idea that will work in cases of a b and in the second example we will see the idea that will work in case of
Example 1: Find out the remainder when 2525 is divided by 7.
Example 2: Find out the remainder when
is divided by 7.
We know that 43 gives a remainder of 1, when divided by 7. So, if we have 43k, it will give a remainder of 1 when divided by 7 Course Details: http://bit.ly/handaCAT13 Use coupon code CATEB11 to get 11% OFF
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So, we need to reduce 2627 as 3k or 3k+1 or 3k+2. If we can do that, we will know the answer. So our task has now been reduced to figuring out
Note: As you can see in solving this example, we have used the concept of negative remainder. In some cases, using the negative remainder can reduce your calculations significantly. It is recommended that you practice some questions using negative remainders instead of positive o nes.
Funda 2: While trying to find out the remainder, if the dividend (M) and the divisor (N) have a factor (k) in common; then Cancel out the common factor Find out the remainder from the remaining fraction Multiply the resulting remainder with the common factor to get the actual remainder In equation format, this can be written as:
Example: Find out the remainder when 415 is divided by 28.
Funda 3: While trying to find out the remainder, if the divisor can be broken down into smaller coprime factors; then Let {HCF (a,b) = 1}
{Such that ax+by = 1}
Note: If you wish to read more about it and how it happens, I suggest you read about the Chinese Remainder Theorem.
Example: Find out the remainder when 715 is divided by 15.
Valid values are x = -3 and y = 2 {Such that 3x+5y=1}
By using the above fundas, solving remainder problems will get a little easier. But if you are thinking, that this is all you need to know to solve remainder problems in CAT I beg to differ. Great mathematicians like Euler, Fermat & Wilson developed some theorems that come in handy while solving remainder questions. We will discuss these in my next post.
Cyclicity of Remainders
In this post I would like to discuss some of the really fundamental ideas that can be used to solve questions based on remainders. If you have just started your preparation for CAT 2012, you might find this article helpful. On the other hand, if you are looking for some advance stuff, I suggest that you check out some of my posts from last year on the same topic. First of all,
What I am trying to say above is that if you divide a^n by d, the remainder can be any value from 0 to d-1. Not only that, if you keep on increasing the value of n, you would notice that the remainders are cyclical in nature. What I am trying to say is that the pattern of remainders would repeat. Let me try to clarify this with an example:
4^1 divided by 9, leaves a remainder of 4. 4^2 divided by 9, leaves a remainder of 7. {Rem(16/9) = 7} 4^3 divided by 9, leaves a remainder of 1. {Rem (64/9) = 1} 4^4 divided by 9, leaves a remainder of 4. {Rem (256/9) = 4} 4^5 divided by 9, leaves a remainder of 4. {Rem (1024/9) = 7} 4^6 divided by 9, leaves a remainder of 4. {Rem (4096/9) = 1} 4^(3k+1) leaves a remainder of 4 4^(3k+2) leaves a remainder of 7 4^3k leaves a remainder of 1 As you can see from above that the remainder when 4^n is divided by 9 is cyclical in nature i.e. the remainders obtained are 4,7,1, 4,7,1, 4,7,1 and so on. They will always follow the same pattern.
Funda 1: a^n when divided by d, will always give remainders which will have a pattern and will move in cycles of r such that r is less than or equal to d.
With the help of the above idea, you can solve a large number of remainder questions. All you need to do is to figure out the cycle / pattern in which the remainders are moving, and it will lead you to the answer. Let us look at an example to illustrate the above idea. Eg: What will be the remainder when 4^143 is divided by 9. From the calculations that I did in the beginning of the post, I know that: Remainders of 4^n when divided by 9, move in a cycle of 3. So, I need to express 143 = 3k + x and that would lead to the answer. I know that 143 = 141 + 2 {141 is divisible by 3} So, my answer would be the 2nd value in the list, which is 7. n the questions where you have to find out the remainder of a^n by d, as a rule you can follow this process: Step 1: Find out the cycle of remainders when a^n is divided by d and make a list of those values. Step 2: Find out the cyclicity, say r Step 3: Find out the remainder when the power is divided by the cyclicity i.e. Rem[n/r] = p Step 4: The answer would be the pth value in the list. {If p = 0, it would be the last value in the list}
Funda 2: While trying to find the cycle / pattern of remainders when a^n is divided by d, just multiply the previous remainder with a to get the next value.
If you notice in the example mentioned in the beginning of this post, I have calculated 4^5 and 4^6 and then found out the remainder. As you might have realized by now that it is a long and tedious process. But the good part is you can avoid that tedious process by just multiplying the previous remainder. In that example instead of calculating 4^5 and then dividing by 9, I could have just multiplied the previous remainder, which was 4 with 4 to get 16, which would have directly given me a remainder of 7. Got confused? Well, let us look at a new example. Eg: Find out the cyclicity of remainders when 3^n is divided by 11.
As you can see that till here there is no problem in calculating the remainders.
{In this case instead of using 3^4 = 81, I took the previous remainder, which was 5 and multiplied it with 3 to get 15, which lead to my current remainder = 4}
{In this case instead of using 3^5 = 243, I took the previous remainder, which was 4 and multiplied it with 3 to get 12, which lead to my current remainder = 1}
{In this case instead of using 3^6 = 729, I took the previous remainder, which was 1 and multiplied it with 3 to get my current remainder = 3} As you might have noticed that the remainder 3 repeated itself and so the cycle / pattern of remainders as -> 3,9,5,4,1 and the cyclicity as 5.
Let us try and solve a slightly more complicated problem with this idea. Eg: Find out the remainder when is divided by 7.
Step 1: Find out the cycle / pattern of remainders when 4^n is divided by 7. Rem [4^1 / 7 ] = 4 Rem [4^2 / 7 ] = 2 Rem [4^3 / 7 ] = 1 So, the cycle/pattern is 4,2,1.
Step 2: The cyclicity is 3. Step 3: Rem [Power/Cyclicity] = Rem [32^32 / 3] = (-1)^32 = 1 Step 4: The answer is the 1st value in the list, which is 4.
I hope you found this post useful. Suggestions for future posts are more than welcome.
Basic Applications of Remainder Theorem

In my previous post, we discussed the cyclical nature of the remainders when an is divided by d. In this post, we will see how problems on finding out the remainder can be broken down into s maller parts. Funda 1: Remainder of a sum when it is being divided is going to be the same as the sum of the individual remainders.
Let us look at an example for this case: Eg: Find out the remainder when (79+80+81) is divided by 7. If we add it up first, we get the sum as 240 and the remainder as 2 as shown below:
However, it would be easier to find out the individual remainders of 79, 80 & 81; which come out to be 2, 3 & 4 respectively and adding them up later to get the answer. This process is shown below:
I hope you would agree that the second method is easier. May be the difference in difficulty level is not highlighted here. Let us look at another idea on the same lines.
Funda 2: Remainder of a product when it is being divided is going to be the same as the product of the individual remainders.
Let us look at an example for this case: Eg: Find out the remainder when (79 x 80 x 81) is divided by 7. If we multiply it first, we get the product as 511920 and the remainder as 3 as shown below:
However, it would be easier to find out the individual remainders of 79, 80 & 81; which come out to be 2, 3 & 4 respectively and multiply them to get 24, which will eventually lead to the remainder of 3. This process is shown below:
I guess there is no doubt in this question that the second method is easier. To be honest, I would take more time to just find out the product of (79 x 80 x 81) than to solve the entire question. That is the reason I recommend breaking down the problem into smaller parts.
Funda 3: Negative Remainders When the absolute value of the -ive remainder is lesser than the absolute value of the positive remainder, it is recommended that you consider a multiple greater than the divisor. When 7 is divided by 4, the remainder can be considered as 3 or -1. When 18 is divided by 7, the remainder can be considered as 4 or -3. When 689 is divided b 23, the remainder can be considered as 22 or -1. As you can see from above, the calculations would reduce drastically in the third case if you consider a negative remainder. As a tip, in remainder questions, you should always think of multiples or powers which can lead to a remainder of 1 or -1.
Till now, the examples I have taken are too simple to be asked in CAT or for that matter any other MBA entrance exam. Let us look at an example that uses all the above-mentioned ideas and is of a slightly higher difficulty level.
Complied by: www.handakafunda.com Eg: Find out the remainder when 83261 is divided by 17. First of all we need to break down 83261 into smaller parts.
We know that
It would be easier if consider the remainder as -2 because our calculations would be lesser. So essentially, our question reduces to:
Now, referring to the tip I gave above, think of a power of 2 that would give a remainder of 1 or -1 from 17. 24 is 16 and would give a remainder of -1 from 17. We have a 2261 here. We will have to break it down to (2260 x 2) so that we can convert it to a power of 16. This step is shown below:
I highly recommend that in this question and other questions of this type, you should verify the answer from Wolfram Alpha. Hope you found this article useful. I look forward to your suggestions for future posts.
REMAINDERS ADVANCED
In previous posts, we have already discussed how to find out the last two digits and basic ideas of remainders. However, there are theorems by Euler, Fermat & Wilson that make calculation of remainders easier. Lets have a look at them. Funda 1 Euler: Number of numbers which are less than N = If M and N are co-prime ie HCF(M,N) = 1 A very common mistake that students tend to make while using Eulers Theorem in solving questions is that they forget M and N have to be co-prime to each other. There is another set of students (like me in college) who dont even understand what to do with the theorem or how to use it solving questions. Let us look at couple of examples in which Eulers Theorem is used. Note: Example 1: is also known as Eulers Totient Function. and co-prime to it are
Funda 2 Fermat: If p is a prime number and a and p are co -primes (ap a) will be divisible by p.
If you notice, the three statements above are saying the exact same thing but in a different way. It is important to keep all three in mind because sometimes it becomes a little difficult to analyze which interpretation of Fermats little theorem is to be used. A simple illustration of this would be:
We can check it by noticing that
Another way that you can remember Fermats Little Theorem (I am not joking, that is the official name check this) is that it is a special case of Eulers Theorem where N is a prime number. Because, if N is prime then or the Eulers Totient Function will always be (N -1)
Funda 3: Wilson Sometimes people find the history behind Wilsons theorem to be more interesting than the theorem itself. Actually, it was know to the great Muslim polymath Alhazen approximately seven and a half centuries before John Wilson was born. Alhazen, being the great scientist that he was, never bothered to prove it and tried to regulate the floods in river Nile. After being ordered by AlHakim bi-Amr Allah, the sixth ruler of the Fatimid caliphate, to carry out this operation, Alhazen quickly perceived the impossibility of what he was attempting to do, and retired from engineering. Fearing for his life, he feigned madnessand was placed under house arrest, during and after which he devoted himself to his scientific work until his death. The English mathematician, John Wilson, stated it in the 18th century but he could not prove it either. Actually Wilson was a student of Edward Waring, who announced the theorem in 1770. None of them could prove it. Lagrange proved it in 1771. There is evidence that Leibniz was also aware of the result a century earlier, but he never published it. I think I will end the history lesson here and continue with the mathematical part. For a prime number p
Another related result to the Wilson Theorem is:
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Note: I have checked the related result for primes up to 120 and found it to be valid. I could not find a proof for it that I could understand. Do note that the key part of the previous sentence is not find a proof for it but that I could understand . May be one of you can help me out in comments.
I also recommend that while trying these ideas or any other remainder questions, keep Wolfram Alpha open.
Number of Trailing Zeros

In this blog post, I would like to cover these two ideas: Number of trailing zeroes in an expression Number of trailing zeroes in n!
But before I begin, let us first try to understand what exactly are trailing zeroes. It is nothing else but the number of zeroes at the end. I do not want to sound pedantic but on many occassions when you see a question which asks about, What is the number of zeroes in ___ it is incorrect, because it should actually say What is the number of trailing zeroes? or What is the number of ending zeroes? It is virtually impossible to predict the exact number of zeroes without actually doing the calculation and finding out the answer. Just to clarify, 170130000 has 5 zeroes but 4 trailing / ending zeroes. In questions based on these ideas, you should assume that the examiner is asking about trailing zeroes unless specified otherwise. Number of trailing zeroes in an expression If we look at a number N, such that
Number of trailing zeroes is the Power of 10 in the expression or in other words, the number of times N is divisible by 10. For a number to be divisible by 10, it should be divisible by 2 & 5. Consider a number N, such that
For the number to have a zero at the end, both a & b should be at least 1. If you want to figure out the exact number of zeroes, you woul d have to check how many times the number N is divisible by 10. When I am dividing N by 10, it will be limited by the powers of 2 or 5, whichever is lesser. Number of trailing zeroes is going to be the power of 2 or 5, whichever is lesser. Let us look at an example to further illustrate this idea.
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When I divide it by 10, it would be divisible exactly thrice because I have only three 5s. In this case, number of 5s has become the limiting factor and so, the power of 5, which is 3 is the answer. Tip: The power of 5 will be the limiting factor in most cases of continuous distribution. It will happen because 5 is less likely to occur than 2. Eg2: Find out the number of zeroes at the end of N Looking at the expression, we can say that the power of 5 will be the limiting factor. All we need to do is to figure out the number of 5s in the expression. 11, 22, 33 , 1717 , 8989, will not give us any 5s. 55 will give us five 5s. 1010 will give us ten 5s. 1515 will give us fifteen 5s. And so on. So, the total number of 5s that I have is But I have made a mistake in the above calculation. I have assumed that 2525 will give me twenty-five 5s but that is incorrect. It is incorrect because 2525 = 550 and will actually give me 50 5s. Other errors are 5050 will actually give me 100 5s, whereas I have considered only 50 5s. 7575 will actually give me 150 5s, whereas I have considered only 75 5s. 100100 will actually give me 200 5s, whereas I have considered only 100 5s. Considering the above, I have made an error of = 25 + 50 + 75 + 100 = 250 5s. So the total number of 5s that I have are 1050 + 250 = 1300. So the number of trailing zeroes at the end of the expression is 1300
Complied by: www.handakafunda.com Number of trailing zeroes in a factorial (n!)
Number of trailing zeroes in n! = Number of times n! is divisible by 10 = Highest power of 10 which divides n! = Highest power of 5 in n! The question can be put in any of the above ways but it can be answered using the simple formula given below:
{ [x] is the greatest integer function. [4.99] = 4, [4.01] = 4, [- 4.99] = 5, [-4.01] = 5}
The above formula gives us the exact number of 5s in n! because it will take care of all multiples of 5 which are less than n. Not only that it will take care of all multiples of 25, 125, etc. (higher powers of 5).
Tip: Instead of dividing by 25, 125, etc. (higher powers of 5); it would be much faster if you divided by 5 recursively. Let us use this to solve a few examples:
Eg1: What is the number of trailing zeroes in 23! ? [23/5 ]= 4. It is less than 5, so we stop here. The answer is 4.
Eg2: What is the number of trailing zeroes in 123! ? [123/5] = 24 Now we can either divided 123 by 25 or the result in the above step i.e. 24 by 5. [24/5 ]= 4. It is less than 5, so we stop here. The answer is = 24 + 4 = 28
Complied by: www.handakafunda.com Eg3: What is the number of trailing zeroes in 1123!? [1123/5] = 224 [224/5] = 44 [44/5] = 8 [8/5]=1. It is less than 5, so we stop here. The answer is = 224 + 44 + 8 + 1 =277
Eg4: Number of trailing zeroes in n! is 13. n =? There is no standard formula for such type of questions but they can be solved by a little bit of hit and trial. I need to get 13 trailing zeroes which I will definitely get from 65! But it will have some extra zeroes in the end because of higher powers of 5. So, I will consider the previous multiple of 5, which in this case is 60. Trailing zeroes in 60! = [60/5] + [60/25] = 12 + 2 = 14 I got 14 but I want to get 13, so I will consider the previous multiple of 5, which in this case is 55. Trailing zeroes in 55! = [55/5] + [55/25] = 11 + 2 = 13 So, the valid values of n! are 55!, 56!, 57!, 58!, 59!
Eg5: Number of zeroes in n! is 23. n =? Trailing zeroes in 100! = [100/5] + [100/25 ] = 20 + 4 = 24 { Too high. Consider previous multiple} Trailing zeroes in 95! = [95/5] + [95/25] = 19 + 3 = 22 { Too low. Consider next multiple} As you can see from above, we would end up in a loop. This will happen because there is no valid value of n for which n! will have 23 zeroes in the end.
Writing the end of the posts is the hardest part for me because I cannot figure out a decent way to end it. It seems like I am in flow when I am writing this and it gets broken at the end. Read the wiki page, you will learn something much more important than Math.
Determining the Second Last Digit

Nike caused controversy with its advertising campaign during the 1996 Olympics by using the slogan, "You Don't Win Silver You Lose Gold." Nike's use of this slogan drew harsh criticism from many former Olympic Silver medallists. In a way, it did undermine the importance of the second position but in Math things are often very different. Figuring out the second last digit is often tougher than figuring out the last digit. It is unlikely but definitely not impossible that in CAT you get a straightforward question that asks you to find out the second last digit of a number (abcpqr). It did happen in CAT 2008. In few cases, you will be able to do it by forming a cycle and observing the pattern. Those will be the easier cases. Read on if you wish to do the same for the not so easy cases. The question becomes really simple if the last digit in abcpqr is 0 or 5 because if it 0, second last digit will be 0 and if it is 5, second last digit will be 2 or 7 (which can be easily figured out by observing the cyclicity). All the other questions can be divided in two broad categories: a) Last digit is odd b) Last digit is even I recommend that before using any of the concepts given below, you should try and see if a pattern exists. Let us consider our number is abcpqr where a,b,c,p,q and r are digits and c is not 0 or 5.
Concept 1: What to do when the last digit is odd? The second last digit always depends on the last two digits of the number so anything before that can be easily neglected. We first convert the number in such a way that the last digit of the base becomes 1. Second last digit of the number will simply be: Last digit of (Second last digit of base) X (Last digit of power) Let us look at few examples Eg 1a: Second last digit of 3791768 = Last digit of 98 = 2 Eg 1b: Second last digit of 1739768 = Second last digit of 39768 = Second last digit of Second Last digit of 1521384 = Last digit of 2 4 = 8 Eg 1c: Second last digit of 9317768 = Second last digit of 17768 = Second last digit of (174) 192 = Second last digit of (21) 192 = Last digit of 2 x 2 = 4
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The second last digit always depends on the last two digits of the number so anything before that can be easily neglected. We need to remember the following ideas: **2 raised to power 10 will always end in 24. 24 raised to an even power will always end in 76 and to an odd power will always end in 24. 76 raised to any power will always end in 76. Now we can use these to find out the second last digit. We reduce the number in such a way that the last two digits of the base become 76. Eg 2a: Second last digit of 1372482 Second last digit of 72482 Second last digit of 72480 x 722 Second last digit of (7210) 48 x (**84) Second last digit of 2448 x (**84) Second last digit of 76 x 84 Second last digit of 6384 = 8 Eg 2b: Second last digit of 48307 = (483) 102 x 48 = (****92) 102 x 48 Second last digit of 92100 x 922 x 48 = 76 x (**64) x 48 Second last digit of (****72) = 7 Eg 2c: Second last digit of 15484 = Second last digit of (54) 84 Second last digit of (545) 16 x 544 = (***24) 16 x (542) 2 Second last digit of 76 x (2916) 2 Second last digit of 76 x 56 Second last digit of 4256 = 5 I hope that after reading this post you will be at ease in figuring out the second last digit. I also hope that you will not mind winning silver medals either.
Algebra
Maxima and Minima in Quadratic and other polynomials

Quadratic Equations are first taught to us in 6th or 7th class and most of us are able to score good marks in it because we are able to solve 90% of the questions by just using that formula. And that formula is:
The above formula gives us the roots of the quadratic equation ax2 + bx + c = 0 For this post, I am assuming that you are aware of the basics of quadratic equations and know how to use the above mentioned formula. In case you are not, spending five minutes on the wiki page of Quadratic Equations wont hurt. Wikipedia can be daunting at times, so come back here as soon as you start feeling woozy. In this particular post, I am going to discuss ideas related to maxima and minima with respect to equations and quadratic equations in particular. The first thing that you need to understand is that a quadratic equation will either have a maxima or a minima but it cannot have both. The reason for that is, a quadratic equation is shaped like a parabola which is either open upwards or downwards. As you can see here, the parabola is open upwards and it will only have a minima
As you can see here, the parabola is open downwards and it will only have a maxima
The nature of the graph of the quadratic equation is decided by the co-efficient of x2.
If the co-efficient of x2 is greater than 0, the parabola will be open upwards and hence it will have a minima. If the co-efficient of x2 is less than 0, the parabola will be open upwards and hence it will have a maxima. Once you have decided whether it will be a maxima or a minima the next task is to figure out two things: a) The point at which the maxima / minima occurs b) The maximum / minimum value of the quadratic equation
Let us try to figure these values out with the help of an example of both types i.e. when co-efficent of x 2 is greater than 0 and when it is less than 0 Case 1: a > 0
Complied by: www.handakafunda.com Now, we know that a perfect square is always non-negative The lowest value that (x-2) 2 can take is 0 The minimum value that the entire quadratic can take is 3 The minima occurs at x = 2 when x-2 is 0 Case 2: a < 0
Now, we know that a perfect square is always non-negative The lowest value that (x+3) 2 can take is 0 The maximum value that the entire quadratic can take is 16 The maxima occurs at x = -3 when x+3 is 0 As you might have realised, the above idea of completing a square can be used to find out the maximum / minimum value and also the point at which the maxima/minima occurs in any quadratic equation. Based upon the logic given above, there is also a set of formulas that you can use for a quadratic equation represented by ax 2 + bx + c = 0
Maxima / Minima occurs at b/2a Maximum / Minimum value is (4ac b2) / 4a
To make things a little more complicated, you might get a question in which the quadratic equation is in the denominator. It is sometimes also referred to as the rational function. Example 1: Constant / Quadratic Rational Function Find out the maximum or minimum value of 3 / (2x^2 5x + 7) We know that the denominator is a quadratic equation with a > 0 The denominator will have a minimum value at b/2a = 5/2 and the value will be (4ac b2) / 4a = 31/8 The function will have a maximum value at 5/2 and the value will be 3/(31/8) = 24/31
Example 2: Linear / Quadratic Rational Function
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For x to be real, the discrimnant of the above equation should be non-negative
Maximum value of the function is 1 and the minimum value of the function is -1/7 Example 3: Quadratic / Quadratic Rational Function Find out the least value of Assume
5 5
5 5
For x to be real, the discrimnant of the above equation should be non-negative
5 5
So, the least value of the function is -1/3, Let me add that it is not necessary that you will always be able to find out the maximum and / or the minimum value of a rational function.
Basics of functions and modifications of graphs

XATs Quant is always a little bit on the tougher side. It is sai d that the paper would be do-able and the level of difficulty will see a dip. That does not mean that the difficulty level would suddenly drop to the standard of elementary mathematics. XAT traditionally focuses more on topics like functions, probability, permutation & combination, etc. more than the CAT exam. In this post we will discuss some basic tips about functions and how graphs of functions change. Let us see what the function y = f(x) = x 3 + 7 looks like:
When we do y = -f (x) we will have to reflect the graph in the x-axis. Given below is what it is going to look like. As you can see, this image would be obtained if we had put a mirror on the X -axis.
When we do y = f(-x) = -x3 + 7 we will have to reflect the graph in the y-axis. Given below is what it is going to look like. As you can see, this image would be obtained if we had put a mirror on the Y-Axis
We also know that for even functions, f(x) = f(-x), so their graphs would be identical in nature. We can also say that a function is even if its mirror image in the Y-axis is identical to the original.
Given below are the graphs of even functions cos(x) and cos(-x)
We also know that for odd functions, f(-x) = - f (x) The graph of an odd function has rotational symmetry with respect to the origin, meaning that its graph remains unchanged after rotation of 180 degrees about the origin. This means that if you reflect the graph of an odd function first in the Xaxis and then in the Y-axis, the resultant graph would be same as the identical. Let us check this out: y = f(x) = x + 5 sin(x)
To find out its reflection in the X-axis, we will need to y = - f(x) = - [x + 5 sin(x)]
As you can see, if you reflect the above graph in Y-axis, you will get back the original. In the modifications discussed above, we talked about reflection about the X-axis or the Y-axis. However, there can be other modifications as well, in which the graph shifts up, down, left or right. Let us look at those.
If y = f(x), the graph of y = f(x) + c (where c is a constant) will be the graph of y = f(x) shifted c units upwards (in the direction of the y-axis). If y = f(x), the graph of y = f(x) - c (where c is a constant) will be the graph of y = f(x) shifted c units downwards (in the direction of the y-axis). If we consider f(x) = x 2, given below are the graphs of f(x), f(x) + 20 and f(x) 10. As you can see, the red graph is shifted 20 units upwards and the orange graph is shifted 10 units downwards from the original blue graph.
If y = f(x), the graph of y = f(x + c) will be the graph of y = f(x) shifted c units to the left. If y = f(x), the graph of y = f(x c) will be the graph of y = f(x) shifted c units to the right.
If we consider f(x) = x 2, given below are the graphs of f(x), f(x+5) and f(x-3). As you can see, the red graph is shifted 5 units left and the orange graph is shifted 3 units right from the original blue graph.
The graph of y = af(x) is a stretch scale factor a in the y-axis. This is because all the y-values become 'a' times bigger.
The graph of f(ax) is also a stretch. This time the multiple affects the x-values. ( Everything happens 'a' times quicker.) Therefore: The graph of f(ax) is a stretch scale factor 1/a in the x-axis.
Another modification which happens is in the case of y = |f(x)| In this case, whatever portion is below the X-axis gets reflected in the x-axis. Check the examples below:
Given below is the graph of f(x) = |Sin(x)| to clarify it further.
I guess we will wrap it up here and hope this would help you with your functions.
Roots of an Equation
I am quite sure that most of you, if not all of you would be aware of the basics of quadratic equation but just to provide a brief refresher:
For a quadratic equation given represented by ax^2 + bx + c = 0
Roots are given by (-b + sqrt(b^2 4ac))/2a & (-b - sqrt(b^2 4ac))/2a Sum of the roots is b/a Product of the roots is c/a
You can expect a problem or two based upon the idea of roots and solving equations in CAT and other exams. If you are lucky, it would be something on the simpler side like this:
Example 1: Amar, Akbar and Antony solve a given quadratic equation. Amar commits a mistake in the constant term and finds the roots as 8 and 2. Akbar commits a mistake in the coefficient of x and finds the roots as -9 and -1. If Antony solves the equations without making any mistakes, what roots does he find?
Amars equation (x 8)(x 2) = 0 x^2 10x + 16 = 0
Akbars equation (x + 9)(x + 1) = 0 x^2 + 10x + 9 = 0
Antony will form the correct equation by taking the coefficient of x from Amars equation and the constant term from Akbars equation. So, Antonys equation will be: x^2 10x + 9 = 0 (x 1)(x 9) = 0
Complied by: www.handakafunda.com Roots are going to 9 and 1.
But sometimes, questions can be a little more complex and deal with polynomials of higher degree. It is important to note that the pattern of sum of the roots, product of the roots, etc. is followed in polynomials of higher degree as well.
Given below are couple of examples of Cubic and Biquadratic equations which are basically equations of degree 3 and 4 respectively.
Cubic equation ax^3 + bx^2 + cx + d = 0
Sum of the roots = - b/a Sum of the product of the roots taken two at a time = c/a Product of the roots = -d/a
Biquadratic or a Quartic equation ax^4 + bx^3 + cx^2 + dx + e = 0
Sum of the roots = - b/a Sum of the product of the roots taken two at a time = c/a Sum of the product of the roots taken three at a time = -d/a Product of the roots = e/a
I guess that with the help of the above two equations you would be able to identify the fact that for a polynomial:
Sum of the roots is given by (Coefficient of second highest power of x)/ (Coefficient of highest power of x) Product of the roots is given by (+ or )Constant/(Coefficient of highest power of x) The + / - sign alternates and the other coefficients help us determine the sum of product of roots taken 2 at a time, 3 at a time, etc.
Let us look at couple of examples to understand how this can be used.
Example 2: If a, b and c are the roots of the equation x^3 3x^2 + x + 1 = 0 find the value of
a) 1/a + 1/b + 1/c b) 1/ab + 1/bc + 1/ca c) (a + 1)(b + 1)(c + 1)

Solution:
a) 1/a + 1/b + 1/c = (ab + bc + ca)/abc = 1/-1 = -1 b) 1/ab + 1/bc + 1/ca = (a + b + c)/abc = -(-3)/(-1) = -3 c) If a, b & c are the roots of the equation, then: f(x) = x^3 3x^2 + x + 1 = (x a)(x b)(x c) = 0 f(-1) = 1 3 1 + 1 = ( 1 a)( 1 b)( 1 c) f(-1) = 4 = (a + 1)(b + 1)(c + 1) So, (a + 1)(b + 1)(c + 1) = 4
As you can see, by using the ideas listed above in the post, the questions have become a lot easier and there is no need to actually find out the value of the roots.
Example 3: Given that three roots of f(x) = x^4 + ax^2 + bx + c are 2, 3, and 5. What is the value of a + b + c?
We have to find out a + b + c f(1) is 1 + a + b + c So, we need to find out f(1) 1 Let the 4th root be r
Coefficient of x^3 = -(Sum of the roots) 0 = - (r + 2 -3 + 5) r=- 4
So, f(x) = (x 2) (x + 3) (x + 4)(x 5) f(1) = (-1)*4*5*(-4) = 80 a + b + c = f(1) 1 = 80 1 = 79
I have a feeling that these ideas would be more helpful in XAT than CAT as on most occasions, quantitative aptitude is tougher in XAT. May be I have a sample bias but I feel that XAT paper setters favor topics like algebra and functions than their CAT counterparts.
Let me end with this: And then Satan said, 'Put the alphabet in math....'
Number of Integral, Whole Number and Natural Number Solutions

A very common type of problem that we get in CAT is when we are asked to find out the number of integral solutions to a given equation. I have always found it hard to categorize such sort of problems in a particular category. A case can be made that such questions belong to Number System or Permutation and Combination or even Algebra. Without going into the nomenclature bit, I would like to explain some of these ideas in this post.
Funda 1: a + b + c + d = n No. of integral solutions will be infinite.
Let me take a simple case where a + b = 100 One solution for this would be a = 100 & b = 0 Another one would be a = 101 & b = 1 Another one would be a = 102 & b = 2 Another one would be a = 103 & b = 3 Another one would be a = 104 & b = 4
As you can see, there is not going to be an end to this list and this will have infinitely many solutions.
To get a finite answer, you need to put in some sort of restrictions on it. One such restriction could be |a| < 100 and |b| < 50 In such a case, a can take any integral value from -99 to 99 whereas b can take any value from -49 to 49. One solution for this would be a = 51 & b = 49 Now, we can only decrease the value of b. So, we will have to increase the value of a. So, Another solution would be a = 52 & b = 48
Complied by: www.handakafunda.com Another solution would be a = 53 & b = 47 Another solution would be a = 54 & b = 46 . . Another solution would be a = 99 & b = 1
So, the total number of solutions in this case is 49.
Funda 2: a + b + c + d = n No. of whole number solutions will be (n+r-1) C (r-1)
Let us take a simple case, where a + b = 100 One solution for this would be a = 100 & b = 0 Another solution for this would be a = 99 & b = 1 Another solution for this would be a = 98 & b = 2 Another solution for this would be a = 97 & b = 3 Another solution for this would be a = 96 & b = 4 . . Another solution for this would be a = 0 & b = 100
So, the total number of solutions in this case is 101. We could have also used the formula for finding out the number of whole number solutions. n = 100 and r = 2 in this case ( r represents the number of variables in the equation in which the sum has to be distributed) By applying the formula, we would have got (100+2-1) C (2-1) = 101 C 1 = 101
I agree that for something as simple as this, we do not need the formula but even for a smaller value with even 3 variables, finding out the cases / solutions without the formula would be extremely hard. In case you do not believe me, try and find out the number of whole number solutions for
a + b + c = 10
By applying the formula, we will get (10 + 3 1) C (3 1) = 12 C 2 = 12*11/2 = 66.
So, total number of whole number solutions in this case is 66.
It is also important to understand why this formula works but I think I will reserve that idea for another post. I have a feeling that by the time I reach the end of this post, I would have crossed the prescribed word-limit.
Funda 3: a + b + c + d = n No. of natural number solutions will be (n-1) C (r-1)
Consider, a + b + c + d = 100 Number of natural number solutions for this would be (100-1) C (4-1) = 99C3 = 99*98*97/3*2*1 = 156849
Funda 4: ax + by = n
The integer values of x will be in an Arithmetic Progression with a common difference of b The integer values of y will be in an Arithmetic Progression with a common difference of a
Let us look at a question from CAT 2003 to understand the application of this idea: If x and y are integers then the equation 5x + 19y = 64 has: (a) a solution for 250 < x < 260 (b) no solution for x > 250 and y >-100 (c) no solution for x < 300 and y < 0 (d) a solution for -59 < y < -56
One solution for the equation would be x = 9 & y = 1 When x will increase y will decrease and their values will be x = 9, 28, 47, 66, y = 1, -4, -9, - 14,
So, the value of y in case of negative integers will always end in 4 or 9. This eliminates option ( d) There will be a solution for x = 256 & y = -64. This eliminates B & C and makes option (a) as the answer.
Please note that this idea can also be applied if you are trying to find out whole number solutions or natural number solutions as well.
Funda 5: ax + by + cz = n
First of all, it is highly unlikely that you will get something like this in CAT. Even if you do get something like this in the exam, I recommend trying out some other questions because the time you will spend on calculating something like this in the exam might be better used elsewhere.
To solve, such questions it is best to take cases. If you select your cases smartly, you will find out the answer a lot faster.
Let us try to solve: Example: Find out the whole number solutions for 2x + 3y + 5z = 50
Now, the coefficient of z is the biggest so let us define our cases based upon various values of z which are possible.
z = 0, 1, 2, 3 .. 10
Complied by: www.handakafunda.com If z = 0; 2x + 3y = 50. x will be {1, 4, 7 25}. No. of solutions = 9
If z = 1; 2x + 3y = 45. x will be {0, 3, 6, 21}. No. of solutions = 8
If z = 2; 2x + 3y = 40. x will be {2, 5, 8 20}. No. of solutions = 7
If z = 4; 2x + 3y = 30. x will be {0, 3, 6 15}. No. of solutions = 6
If z = 7; 2x + 3y = 15. x will be {0, 3, 6}. No. of solutions = 3
If z = 8; 2x + 3y = 10. x will be {2, 5}. No. of solutions = 2
If z = 9; 2x + 3y = 5. x will be {1}. No. of solutions = 1
If z = 10; 2x + 3y = 0. x will be {0}. No. of solutions = 1
Total number of solutions = 9 + 8 + 7 + 6 + 6 + 4 + 4 + 3 + 2 + 1 + 1 = 51 solutions.
If you did not agree with me earlier that such questions should not be attempted in CAT, may be you would agree with me after reading the solution.
I hope you found this post useful. Please provide feedback and suggestions for future posts via the comment section.
Arithmetic
Basics of Time, Distance & Speed

I guess my first fascination with problems of Time, Speed and Distance began when I first saw Heena. An important part of the storyline, if you can call it that, saw Rishi Kapoor floating from India to Pakistan without drowning. I remember arguing with my friends that if could float for that long he could swim back to India as well. My friends nullified the argument by saying:
Speed River > Speed Rishi Kapoor

I know that the reference is a little dated for most readers of this post, but Zeba Bhaktiyar made me look beyond reason. In this post we will discuss some of the ideas that have helped me solve TSD problems without forming too many equations.
Funda 1: Average Speed We know that the average speed in a journey is given by (Total Distance Covered) / (Total Time Taken); but there are few special cases which might help in solving questions If the distance covered is constant ( average speed is Harmonic Mean of the values. SpeedAvg = If the time taken is constant ( average speed is Arithmetic Mean of the values. SpeedAvg = in each part of the journey, then the
in each part of the journey then the
Funda 2: Using Progressions (Arithmetic & Harmonic) In many questions, you come across a situation when a person is going from Point A to Point B at various speeds and taking various times. We know that if distance is constant, speed and time are inversely proportional to each other. But, this information can also be used to deduce these two facts If the various speeds which are mentioned are in AP, then the corresponding times taken will be in HP. If the various speeds which are mentioned are in HP, then the corresponding times taken will be in AP.
Let us use these ideas to solve couple of quant questions.
Eg 2.1 Arun, Barun and Kiranmala start from the same place and travel in the same direction at speeds of 30,40 and 60 km per hour respectively. Barun starts two hours after Arun. If Barun and Kiranmala overtake Arun at the same instant, how many hours after Arun did Kiranmala start? [CAT 2006] Note: Arun Barun Kiranmala is a 1968 Bangladeshi film. Now you can guess what inspires CAT question setters. Here is a song from the film. Solution As you can see that the speeds are in HP, so we can say that the times taken will be in AP. Time difference between Arun and Barun is 2 hours, so the time difference between Barun and Kiranbala will also be 2 hours. Hence, Kiranbala started 4 hours after Arun.
Eg 2.2 Rishi Kapoor can swim a certain course against the river flow in 84 minutes; he can swim the same course with the river flow in 9 minutes less than he can swim in still water. How long would he take to swim the course with the river flow? Solution Let us say Speed of the Rishi Kapoor in still water is RK and Speed of the river is R. Hence, Ri shi Kapoors speeds against the river flow, in still water and with the river flow are: RK R, RK and RK + R. As you can see, they are in AP. Hence, the corresponding times taken will be in HP. Let us say that the time taken to row down with the stream is t, then 84, t+9 and t are in HP. So,
5 5
Funda 3: Special Case Let us say that two bodies a & b start at the same time from two points P & Q towards each other and meet at a point R in between. After meeting at R, a takes t a time to reach its destination (Q) and b takes tb time to reach its destination (P); then:
Also, the time taken by a & b to meet (i.e. to reach point R from P & Q respectively) i s given by:
Note: The same formulae will be valid if two bodies a & b start at different times from two points P & Q towards each other. They meet at a point R in between after travelling for t a and tb time respectively. After meeting, they take the same amount of time (t) to reach their respective destinations (Q & P). I hope that these ideas will help you reduce the number of equations that you form while solving TSD problems if not completely eliminate them.
Motion of two bodies in a straight line

TSD: There are some topics in Quantitative Aptitude, like Permutation & Combination, where you can easily find out the answer and the answer you calculate is there in the options but it turns out to be wrong. And then there are some topics in which you read the question, understand it but cannot even begin solving it. You get stuck at the first step and you have no idea about how to even approach the question. The irritating fact is that you understood the question properly. It happens very frequently with questions on Time Speed & Distance (TSD). I have always been a big adv ocate of skipping questions which you cannot solve. More often than not, TSD questions should be skipped if you cannot figure out how to start within the first minute. Typically the questions on TSD are based upon certain ideas, which if you are not aware of can make solving the question extremely difficult and time consuming. I do not think that I am even aware of all ideas / types of questions in TSD but there are a few popular ones which have been doing the rounds in the past few years. I am going to cover some of them in this post and probably revisit some more in the months to come. I am also going to discuss the reasoning behind those ideas. It is very important that you understand the logic behind the formulae before you actually start using them. If you dont, there is a very high probability that you will make a mistake.
To begin with, some of the very basic ideas that you should be aware of are: Speed = Distance / Time If Distance is constant, then Speed and Time are inversely proportional to each other Two bodies moving in the same direction would have the relative speed of S(1) S(2) and two bodies moving in the opposite direction would have the relative speed of S(1) + S(2)
In this particular post, I am going to talk about the motion of two bodies in a straight line starting from opposite ends. Case 1: Two bodies start from opposite ends P & Q at the same time and move towards each other with speeds S(1) & S(2). They take times of T(1) & T(2) to reach their destinations. In such a case, the relationship between the times taken and the speeds will be S(1) / S(2) = T(2) / T(1) The distances that both bodies have travelled are PQ and QP respectively. PQ = S(1) T(1) QP = S(2) T(2) Also, PQ = QP so the above equations can be equated to get the desired result.
Complied by: www.handakafunda.com Let us say that they meet at a point R in between, then R would divide the distance PQ in the ratio of S(1):S(2)
They started at the same time and they are meeting at point R, so the time taken by both the bodies will be the same. If we assume that time as T PR = S(1) T QR = S(2) T Dividing the above two equations would give us the desired result.
Case 2: Two bodies start from opposite ends P & Q at the same time and move towards each other with speeds S(1) & S(2). After meeting each other, they take times of T(1) & T(2) to reach their destinations. In such a case, the relationship between the times taken and the speeds will be
Also, the time taken for the two bodies to meet will be Let us assume that the two bodies meet at a point R, after time T. For the first body, PR = S(1)T and RQ = S(1)T(1) For the second body, QR = S(2)T and RP = S(2)T(2) We know that PR = RP S(1)T = S(2)T(2) We know the QR = RQ S(2)T = S(1)T(1) Dividing the above two equations, we will get
Complied by: www.handakafunda.com Using the above result, we can obtain the value of T
Case 3: Two bodies start from opposite ends P & Q to reach their destinations at the same time and move towards each other with speeds S(1) & S(2). Before meeting, they take times of T(1) & T(2) to reach the meeting point. In such a case, the relationship between the times taken and the speeds will be
Also, the time taken for the two bodies to meet will be The logic for this would be exactly the same as Case 2. Try working this out on your own.
Case 4: Two bodies start from opposite ends P & Q at the same time and move towards each other with speeds S(1) & S(2). They reach the opposite ends and reverse directions. They continue this to and fro motion. If the distance between the two bodies in the beginning is D, then Time taken by them to meet for the first time, T = D / S(1) + S(2) If R is the first meeting point, PR / QR = S(1) / S(2)
The idea that I am going to discuss now is only valid in the case when the greater speed is less than twice of the lesser speed. {If S(1) > S(2), then S(1) < 2S(2)}
After the first meeting, if the bodies continue to move they will reach their respective ends and start the return journey. They will meet again on the return journey and then proceed further. After the first meeting, they would have covered 2D distance . Since the distance has doubled, time taken will also double. So, the total distance covered by the bodies for their first, second, third nth meetings will be: D, 3D, 5D and (2n-1)D So, the total times taken by the bodies for their first, second, third nth meetings will be: D / S(1) + S(2), 3 D / S(1) + S(2), 5 D / S(1) + S(2) and (2n -1) D / S(1) + S(2) In case you need to figure out the point at which the bodies meet for the nth time, consider only one of the bodies, say 1. Distance covered by 1 till the nth meeting = [S(1)/S(2)]*(2n-1)D . The remainder of the above when divided by 2D will give you the exact location of the nth meeting point. For example, if the distance covered by 1 till the nth meeting comes out as 700 meters and D = 150 meters, the nth meeting point can be obtained by the remainder of 700/300 which is 100. So, the nth meeting point will be 100 m from P.
I know you would hate me for saying this, but this is not the end of TSD. This is not even the end of motion of two bodies in a straight line. The destination is still far away and hopefully we will reach there in time.
CLOCKS FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES

Questions on clocks (or even calendars) are not really frequent in CAT these days. They used to be really popular few years ago. Having said that, it is always better to understand some of the basic principles and the types of problems that get asked. They might come in handy in case of other exams like CMAT, MAT, SNAP, etc.
Clock problems can be broadly classified in two categories:
a) Problems on angles b) Problems on incorrect clocks

Problems on angles Before we actually start solving problems on angles, we need to get couple of basic facts clear:
Speed of the hour hand = 0.5 degrees per minute (dpm) {The hour hand completes a full circle or 360 degrees in 12 hours or 720 minutes} Speed of the minute hand = 6 dpm {The minute hand completes a full circle in 60 minutes} At n o clock, the angle of the hour hand from the vertical is 30n
The questions based upon these could be of the following types
Example 1: What is the angle between the hands of the clock at 7:20 At 7 o clock, the hour hand is at 210 degrees from the vertical. In 20 minutes, Hour hand = 210 + 20*(0.5) = 210 + 10 = 220 {The hour hand moves at 0.5 dpm} Minute hand = 20*(6) = 120 {The minute hand moves at 6 dpm}
Difference or angle between the hands = 220 120 = 100 degrees
Example 2: At what time do the hands of the clock meet between 7:00 and 8:00 Ans: At 7 o clock, the hour hand is at 210 degrees from the vertical. In t minutes
Complied by: www.handakafunda.com Hour hand = 210 + 0.5t Minute hand = 6t They should be meeting each other, so 210 + 0.5t = 6t Hands of the clock meet at 7 : 38 : 2/11th
t = 210/5.5 = 420/11= 38 minutes 2/11th minute
Example 3: At what time do the hands of a clock between 7:00 and 8:00 form 90 degrees? Ans: At 7 o clock, the hour hand is at 210 degrees from the vertical. In t minutes Hour hand = 210 + 0.5t Minute hand = 6t The difference between them should be 90 degrees. Please note that it can be both before the meeting or after the meeting. You will get two answers in this case, one when hour hand is ahead and the other one when the minute hand is ahead. Case 1: 210 + 0.5t 6t = 90
5.5t = 120 t = 240/11 = 21 minutes 9/11th of a minute

Case 2: 6t (210 + 0.5t) = 90
5.5t = 300 t = 600/11 = 54 minutes 6/11th of a minute

So, the hands of the clock are at 90 degrees at the following timings: 7 : 21 : 9/11 th and 7 : 54 : 6/11th
Some other results which might be useful:
Hands of a clock meet at a gap of 65 5/11 minutes. The meetings take place at 12:00:00, 1:05:5/11, 2:10:10/11 and so on. Hands of a clock meet 11 times in 12 hours and 22 times in a day. Hands of a clock are perfectly opposite to each other (i.e. 180 degrees) 11 times in 12 hours and 22 times a day. {Same as above}
Any other angle is made 22 times in 12 hours and 44 times in a day
Problems on incorrect clocks Such sort of problems arise when a clock runs faster or slower than expected pace. When solving these problems it is best to keep track of the correct clock.
Example 4: A watch gains 5 seconds in 3 minutes and was set right at 8 AM. What time will it show at 10 PM on the same day? Ans: The watch gains 5 seconds in 3 minutes => 100 seconds in 1 hour. From 8 AM to 10 PM on the same day, time passed is 14 hours. In 14 hours, the watch would have gained 1400 seconds or 23 minutes 20 seconds. So, when the correct time is 10 PM, the watch would show 10 : 23 : 20 PM
Example 5: A watch gains 5 seconds in 3 minutes and was set right at 8 AM. If it shows 5:15 in the afternoon on the same day, what is the correct time? Ans: The watch gains 5 seconds in 3 minutes => 1 minute in 36 minutes From 8 AM to 5:15, the incorrect watch has moved 9 hours and 15 minutes = 555 minutes. When the incorrect watch moves for 37 minutes, correct watch moves for 36 minutes.
When the incorrect watch moves for 1 minute, correct watch moves for 36/37 minutes When the incorrect watch moves for 555 minutes, correct watch moves for (36/37)*555 = 36*15 minutes = 9 hours 9 hours from 8 AM is 5 PM. The correct time is 5 PM.
I am sure you would have heard the proverb that even a broken clock is right twice a day. However, a clock which gains or loses a few minutes might not be right twice a day or even once a day. It would be right when it had gained / lost exactly 12 hours.
Example 6: A watch loses 5 minutes every hour and was set right at 8 AM on a Monday. When will it show the correct time again? Ans: For the watch to show the correct time again, it should lose 12 hours. It loses 5 minutes in 1 hour
It loses 1 minute in 12 minutes It will lose 12 hours (or 720 minutes) in 720*12 minutes = 144 hours = 6 days It will show the correct time again at 8 AM on Sunday.
I hope that this session was useful to you. If it wasnt let me present the greatest song on clocks that has ever been written in any language click here. (No. It is not Coldplay)
Dealing with Percentages Part 1

A percentage, for the lack of a better definition, is a number or ratio as a fraction of 100. Probably the oldest application of it, like so many other things in todays world, was at the time of the Roman empire. Augustus, founder of the Roman Empire and its first Emperor, levied a tax of 1/100 on goods sold at auction known as centesima rerum venalium . Computation with these fractions were similar to computing percentages. The word itself is derived from the Latin per centum meaning by the hundred. The percent sign evolved by gradual contraction of the phrase per cento. The "per" was often abbreviated as "p." and eventually disappeared entirely. The "cento" was contracted to two circles separated by a horizontal line from which the modern "%" is derived. But enough about history and let us come back to the present and some practical uses of the same.
Percentage as Fractions:
One of the most useful tips, when it comes to percentage, is the use of fractions in calculating them. Given below is a table which can help you get started. There is no better way to remember these values than to start using them in your daily calculations.
Fraction 1/2 1/3 1/4 1/5 1/6 1/7 1/8
%age 50% 33.33% 25% 20% 16.66% 14.28% 12.5%
Fraction 1/9 1/10 1/11 1/12 1/13 1/14 1/15
%age 11.11% 10% 9.09% 8.33% 7.69% 7.14% 6.66%
Example: Find out 28.5% of 476 a) 135.66 b) 136 c) 136.28 d)136.43
As you can see here the option are really close and you might think that you would have to calculate the actual value. But if you are well versed with the table given above you can save some effort and time in doing so. These seconds you save might be vital in the exam. To calculate 28.5%, I urge you to have a closer look at 1/7. 1/7 represents 14.28%, so 2/7 would represent 28.56% which is freakishly close to the percentage that we are looking for. Also, calculating 2/7 of 476 is not that difficult as 476/7 is divisible by 7 and it is 68. So, 2/7 of 476 will be 136. Now, we know that 2/7 is 28.56% and we also know that that it is 136. Our answer will be little less than 136 as we are trying to find out 28.5% which is a little less than 28.56%. So, our answer would be 135.66. Option A
Percentage Change:
To find out the percentage change, you can use the formula
% change =
A lot of people make a mistakes in calculating values related to the given formula because they do not calculate % change based upon the initial value.
Example: My current salary is Rs. 1000 a day, which is 25% higher than what it was last year. What was my salary last year? If you think that the answer to the above question is Rs. 750 per day then you are making the same mistake that lot of students make. The raise that I got (25%) was not on my current salary but the initial value, which was my salary previous year. To calculate it correctly, let us assume my last years salary to be x Rs. per day.
A 25% increase means an increase of , My current salary is 5/4 of my previous years salary. This means that my salary last year was 4/5 of my current salary. My last years salary =
Complied by: www.handakafunda.com Changing Quantities by Percents:
The simplest way to change a number by a given percent is to simply multiply it by the final percentage. That is, to increase a number by x%, simply multiply it by (100 + x)% or x%, simply multiply it by (100 x)% or , and to decrease it by
Example: A piece of paper is in the shape of a right angled triangle and is cut along a line that is parallel to the hypotenuse, leaving a smaller triangle. There was a 35% reduction in the length of the hypotenuse of the triangle. If the area of the original triangle was 34 square inches before the cut, what is the area (in square inches) of the smaller triangle? a.16.665 b. 16.565 c. 15.465 d. 14.365
If the hypotenuse reduced by 35%, it became 100 35 = 65% of the original or in other words it became 0.65 times the original. The other two sides also become 0.65 times the original. Area will become (0.65)^2 = 0.4225 times the original. New area = 0.4225*34 = 14.365. Option D
I hope that you liked this introdu ctory article on Percentage. In part 2, I will cover two important concepts:
a) Successive Percentage Changes b) Compensating a Percentage Change

If you have any other ideas or suggestions with respect to ideas that should be covered in Dealing with Percentage Part 2 please feel free to use the comment section.
Dealing with Percentage Part 2

This is in continuation of my previous post on Percentage. In case you havent gone through it, I suggest you read that first. In Part 1, I discussed the basic concepts covering the following: Percentage as Fractions Percentage Change Changing Quantities by Percents
I would like to discuss couple more ideas in this post. Let us begin.
Successive Percentage Change:
I am sure you would have seen retail stores with offers like 50% + 40% off. If my memory serves me right, these type of offers were made extremely popular by Koutons. I always thought of it as a 90% off offer but clearly I was wrong. I guess some of you might have made the same mistake as well. A 50% + 40% off does not mean a 90% off. It actually means that you will be given a discount of 50% first and then on the reduced price you will given another 40% discount. Let us calculate to figure out how much this actually means. Let us assume that the T-shirt you are trying to buy costs 100 Rs. A 50% discount would bring down the price of the T-shirt to 50 Rs. Another 40% discount on the reduced price of 50 Rs. would further bring down the price by 20 Rs., which is 40% of 50, to 30Rs. So, the price has effectively gone down from 100 Rs. to 30 Rs. which means that the effective discount has been 70% and not 90%.
Let me ask you another question. Try to answer it in your head before you actually scroll down and check the answer.
Example 1: Shop A is selling a T-shirt at a discount of 50% + 40% on the MRP whereas shop B is selling the same T-shirt at a discount of 40% + 50%. You should buy the T-shirt from Shop A or Shop B?
Now, there might be a few things going on in your head like A is better because it is offering higher percentage first or B is better because it is offering higher percentage later or this cannot be determined until and unless we know the MRP of the T-shirt. Well, stop your internal monologue.
The answer is that it would not make a difference whether you buy it from Shop A or from Shop B. Dont believe me do the math.
Let us assume that the MRP of the T-shirt is x From Shop A, a 50% discount would bring down the price to 0.5x and another 40% discount would bring down the price to 0.3x From Shop B, a 40% discount would bring down the price to 0.6x and another 50% discount would bring down the price to 0.3x As you can see the sale price is coming out to be the same in both cases.
In case you are wondering as to why it is the same in both cases, it is because percentages are multiplicative in nature and p*q is always the same as q*p. For future reference, you can use the formula for effective % change in case of successive % changes of a% and b% is
Note: Please keep in mind the +/- sign while using the formula. If you put a = 50% and b = 40% (from the above example), you would get 110% which would be the incorrect answer. You should use -50% and -40% to get the correct answer of -70%. You will have to use ive values for the above example because the % changes considered are discounts.
Example 2: A companys revenue grew by 10% and 20% in the 2009 and 2010 but fell by 25% in 2011. What was the net % change? Use the formula for the first two years = 10 + 20 + 10*20/100 = 32 Combine this with the last year = 32 25 + (32)(-25)/100 = 7 8 = -1%
Compensating Percentage Change:
I am sure you must have encountered questions like these: a) The price of beer has gone up by 25%, by how much should you reduce your consumption so that the your expenses do not change.
b) Ravi got a salary hike of 10%. The new boss thought this shouldnt have happened because Ravi doesnt deserve it, so he slashes Ravis salary by 10%. Is Ravi back to the original? If no, then by what % should Ravis boss deduct his salary. Now there are couple of ways of doing these questions. One is using the concepts of fractions, proportionality, etc. The other one is by using the formula. Let us discuss both of them
a)
Price of beer has gone up by 25% Price of beer has increased by 1/4th Price of beer has become 5/4th Consumption should become 4/5th Consumption should reduce by 1/5th Consumption should reduce by 20%
b) A hike of 10% and then a reduction of 10% wont be fair as Ravi would end up getting less than the original. Using the successive % change formula {10 10 + 10*(-10)/100 = -1}, we can say that he would end up getting 1% lesser than the original. To get the correct deduction value: Ravis salary was hiked by 10% Ravis salary has increased by 1/10th Ravis salary has become 11/10th To go back to the original, it should become 10/11th of the current value It should reduce by 1/11 It should reduce by 9.09%
We could have also used the formula for compensating a change of r% a) r = 25%. Compensating % change = (100*25)/(100+25) 20% = reduction of 20% b) r = 10%. Compensating % change = (100*10)/(100+10) 9.09% = reduction of 9.09%
I hope you found this post useful and it would help you get a higher percentage and percentile in your exam.
Geometry
Geometry Fundas-1
I got a lot of feedback via comments on my previous posts that people are looking for a post on Geometry. I have been avoiding it for sometime because of two main reasons: a) It is not one of my strong areas. b) It takes a lot of time to draw the diagrams that are sometimes required to explain the fundas. With Diwali and CAT approaching I realized that I could not procrastinate anymore because Geometry, as you would agree, is a very important part of CAT-prep. I have compiled a list of fundas that you might find helpful in solving CAT level questions. I am splitting those in two posts so that one post does not become too long / intimidating. In this post, we will discuss Geometry fundas related to lines, triangles, parallelograms, trapeziums, polygons, etc. You might find some of them very simple or ideas that are obvious to you. If that is the case, be glad that your prep is up to the mark. If not, then be glad you got them in time. (Yes I am inspired by two-face ) Funda 1:
The ratio of intercepts formed by a transversal intersecting three parallel lines is equal to the ratio of corresponding intercepts formed by any other transversal. Funda 2: Centroid and Incenter will always lie inside the triangle. About the other points: For an acute angled triangle , the Circumcenter and the Orthocenter will lie inside the triangle. For an obtuse angled triangle , the Circumcenter and the Orthocenter will lie outside the triangle. For a right-angled triangle , the Circumcenter will lie at the midpoint of the hypotenuse and the Orthocenter will lie at the vertex at which the angle is 90.
The orthocenter, centroid, and circumcenter always lie on the same line known as Euler Line. The orthocenter is twice as far from the centroid as the circumcenter is. If the triangle is Isosceles then the incenter lies on the same line . If the triangle is equilateral, all four are the same point.
Funda 4: Appolonius Theorem {AD is the median}
AB2 + AC2 = 2 (AD2 + BD2)
Funda 5: For cyclic quadrilaterals
Area =
where s is the semi perimeter
Also, Sum of product of opposite sides = Product of diagonals ac + bd = PR x QS
If a circle can be inscribed in a quadrilateral, its area is given by = Funda 7: Parallelograms A parallelogram inscribed in a circle is always a Rectangle. A parallelogram circumscribed about a circle is always a Rhombus. So, a parallelogram that can be circumscribed about a circle and in which a circle can be inscribed will be a Square. Each diagonal divides a parallelogram in two triangles of equal area. Sum of squares of diagonals = Sum of squares of four sides AC2 + BD2 = AB2 + BC2 + CD2 + DA2 A Rectangle is formed by intersection of the four angle bisectors of a parallelogram. From all quadrilaterals with a given area, the square has the least perimeter. For all quadrilaterals with a given perimeter, the square has the greatest area.
Funda 8: Trapeziums Sum of the squares of the length of the diagonals = Sum of squares of lateral sides + 2 Product of bases. AC2 + BD2 = AD2 + BC2 + 2 x AB x CD If a trapezium is inscribed in a circle, it has to be an isosceles trapezium. If a circle can be inscribed in a trapezium, Sum of parallel sides = Sum of lateral sides.
Funda 9: A regular hexagon can be considered as a combination of six equilateral triangles. All regular polygons can be considered as a combination of n isosceles triangles.
I will wrap up this post here. In my next and final post on Geometry we will discuss fundas related to circles (specifically common tangents), solid figures, mensuration and co-ordinate geometry.
Geometry Fundas-2
This is my second post on PG with respect to Geometry Fundas. We discussed lines, triangles, parallelograms, trapeziums, polygons, etc. in my previous post. <please hyperlink> Let us look at few of the fundas / formulae in Geometry that are often neglected by students and can fetch some crucial marks in the exam.
Funda 1: Angle made by Secants
= [ m(Arc AC) m(Arc BD) ]
= [ m(Arc AC) + m(Arc BD) ]
In both these cases, PA * PB = PC * PD
Funda 2: Common Tangents
Two Circles One is completely inside other Touch internally Intersect Touch externally One is completely outside other
No. of Common Tangents
Distance Between Centers (d)
0 1 2 3 4
< r1 - r2 = r1 - r2 r1 - r2 < d < r1 + r2 = r1 + r2 > r1 + r2
Length of the Direct Common Tangents (DCT) AD = BC = Length of the Transverse Common Tangent (TCT) RT = SU = Note: The two centers(O and O), point of intersection of DCTs (P)and point of intersection of TCTs (Q) are collinear. Q divides OO in the ratio r1 : r2 internally whearea P divides OO in the ratio r1 : r2 externally.
Funda 3: Solids If a sphere is inscribed in a cube of side a, the radius of the sphere will be a/2. If a sphere is circumscribed about a cube of side a, the radius of the sphere will be a /2. If a largest possible sphere is inscribed in a cylinder of radius a and hei ght h, its radius r will be o r = h/2 {If 2a > h} o r=a {If 2a < h} If a largest possible sphere is inscribed in a cone of radius r and slant height equal to 2r, then the radius of sphere = r/ If a cube is inscribed in a hemisphere of radius r, then the edge of the cube = r
Funda 4: Co-ordinate Geometry The X axis divides the line joining P(x1,y1 ) and Q(x2,y2) in the ratio of y 1 : y2 The Y axis divides the line joining P(x 1,y1) and Q(x 2,y2) in the ratio of x1 : x 2 If we know three points A(x 1,y1), B(x2,y2 ) and C(x3,y3 ) of a parallelogram, the fourth point is given by o (x 1 + x 3 x2, y1 + y3 y2)
With this I will like to wrap up this post on Geometry. Best of Luck to all of you for CAT! But remember: Sitaron ke aage jahan aur bhi hain; Abhi ishq ke imtihan aur bhi hain!
MODERN MATHS
Permutations&Combination-Fundamental principles of counting
For this series of articles, I am assuming CAT 2013 would be the first time you would be attempting CAT, which essentially implies that you are not well versed with the basic ideas behind the Quantitative Aptitude portion. In the latter half of the year, I would move to slightly more advanced topics as by then, you would also have moved to the advanced stage of preparation. I have often seen students struggle with the topic Permutation & Combination. As a matter of fact, I have even seen some faculties shy away from conducting those classes. This fear, for the lack of a better word, stems from the fact that the options are often very confusing. Even if you make a mistake, miss out a case, take a wrong factorial the answer you obtain is invariably in the options. One of the most basic tips that I would like to give you is this if you are not able to solve the question, look at the answer and then try to figure out the logic behind the answer. I think one of the main reasons behind lot of students making mistakes in questions based on Permutation & Combination is the fact that they start the chapter with the two formulas which are given below:
It is wrong to start off with these formulas. It is very important to understand the logic behind these formulas. And that is precisely what I wish to achieve with the help of this post by talking about Fundamental Principles of Counting.
Let us start with a very basic idea: Rule of Product: If there are m ways to do something and there are n ways to do another, then the total number of ways of doing both things is m x n. To elaborate this with an example, assume that you have 4 T-shirts and 2 Jeans. The total number of ways in which you can decide what to wear is 4 x 2 = 8. In case you are wondering Why is it 8?, the logic is pretty simple. With every T-shirt, you have a choice between the two Jeans. This is illustrated below: Choices of dress: T1J1, T1J2, T2J1, T2J2, T3J1, T3J2, T4J1 and T4J2 An assumption here is that you are not bothered with trivialities such as dressing-sense. Because if you are, then the decision of which jeans to wear with respect to a t-shirt will not be an independent
de cision. The formula of m x n ways is valid if and only if the decisions are independent of each other. In case the decisions are not independent, then you would have to take care of the restrictions which are applicable.
Rule of Sum: If there are m ways to do something and there are n ways to do another and we cannot do both at the same time, then there are m +n ways to choose one of the actions. To elaborate this with an example, assume that you have 5 Formal Shoes and 3 Cowboy Boots. The total number of ways in which you can decide your footwear is 5 + 3 = 8. In case you are wondering Why is it 8?, the logic is pretty simple. You can either wear Formal Shoes or Cowboy Boots but not both. The choices are illustrated below. Choices of footwear: FS1, FS2, FS3, FS4, FS5, CB1, CB2 and CB3 A slightly more complicated example on the same would go something like this. Question 1: You have 4 T-shirts, 2 Jeans, 6 Sarees, 5 Formal Shoes and 3 Cowboy boots. In how many ways can you decide what to wear?
The answer for this is (4 x 2 + 6) x (5 + 3) = 14 x 8 = 112 ways.
I hope the logic behind the answer would be clear to you by now. Continuing with the same idea, try to answer this question. Question 2: You have 50 students in a class and you have to select three out those for the posts of President, Vice-President and General Secretary. In how many ways can you do that?
The President can be any one of the 50 students. Suppose you choose X.
The Vice-President can be any of the remaining 49 students (Not X). Suppose you choose Y. The General Secretary can be any of the remaining 48 students (Not X or Y). So, the total number of ways in which you can decide the students for the positions are = 50 x 49 x 48.
Question 3: In how many ways can you select and arrange r items out of n distinct items? The 2nd item can be selected in n 1 ways. The 3rd item can be selected in n 2 ways. The rth item can be selected in n r + 1 ways. So, the total number of ways of selecting and arranging r items out of n distinct items is: As you can realize, this is a difficult formula to remember. To take care of the same, multiply (n-r)! to both the numerator and the denominator.
The 1st item can be selected in n ways.
Does the above formula look familiar? If not, just scroll up and see what n P r is.
Question 4: In how many ways can you arrange r items?
The 1st item can be selected in r ways.
The 2nd item can be selected in r 1 ways. The 3rd item can be selected in r 2 ways. The rth item can be selected in r (r 1) ways or simply put, 1 way. So, the total ways of arranging r items is:
Question 5: In how many ways can you select r items out of n distinct items?
From Question 3, I know that the number of ways of selecting and arranging is n P r.
From Question 4, I know that the number of ways of just arranging is r! Selecting and Arranging are independent decisions, so The above equation not only gives us the formula for n C r, but it also gives us a very important relationship n P r = n C r x r! I hope with the help of this post, the logic behind n P r and n C r would have become clear to you and you would not make a mistake in the same area ever again.
Permutation &Combination - Distribution of objects

As an astute man Mr. Gump once said, Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you going to get. The Permutations & Combinations that life presents us daily is baffling and probably it is because of that inherent fear of choices and cases we get intimidated by such questions in the exam. I understand that P & C is one of the dreaded topics but I hope that once you understand the fundas given below, your fear will reduce.
Funda 1: De-arrangement If n distinct items are arranged in a row, then the number of ways they can be rearranged such that none of them occupies its original position is:
Note: De-arrangement of 1 object is not possible. Dearr(2) = 1; Dearr(3) = 2; Dearr(4) =12 4 + 1 = 9; Dearr(5) = 60 20 + 5 1 = 44
Eg1.1: A person has eight letters and eight addressed envelopes corresponding to those letters. In how many ways can he put the letters in the envelopes such that exactly 5 of them get delivered correctly? Solution: At first, select the five letters that get delivered correctly. That can be done in 8C5 ways. Now, the other three must get delivered to the wrong address. That can be done in Dearr(3) = 2 ways. So, total ways is 2 x 8C5 = 2 x 56 = 112 ways.
Funda 2: Partitioning n identical items in r distinct groups n distinct objects in r distinct groups
n +r-1 No restrictions: Cr-1 n-1 No group empty: Cr-1 No restrictions: rn Arrangement in a group is important:
Note: Other than standard distribution / partitioning problems, these ideas can be used to solve questions in which number of solutions are asked.
Eg 2.1: How many solutions are there to the equation a + b + c = 100; given that a) a, b and c are whole numbers. b) a, b and c are natural numbers. Solution: Case a) is identical to a case in which 100 identical chocolates are being distributed in three kids a, b and c. It is possible that one kid gets all the chocolates. In this case, we will use the formula for distributing n identical items in r di stinct groups where n = 100 and r = 3. So, it can be done in 102 C2 ways.
Case b) is identical to a case in which 100 identical chocolates are being distributed in three kids a, b and c. Every kid must get at least one chocolate. In this case, we will use the formula for distributing n identical items in r distinct groups where no group is empty and n = 100 and r = 3. So, it can be done in 99 C2 ways.
Eg 2.2: In how many ways can you distribute 5 rings in a) 4 boxes. b) 4 fingers. Solution: First of all we need to identify the difference between distributing in boxes and distributing in 4 fingers. The distinction is that in case of fingers, unlike boxes, the order in which rings are placed matters. In Case a; Ring 1 can go in any of the four boxes, so it has four choices. Ring 2 can also go in any of the four boxes, so it has four choices. Similarly for Ring 3, Ring 4 and Ring 5; there are 4 choices each. So, the total number of ways of distribution is = 4 x 4 x 4 x 4 x 4 = 45. This is essentially how the formula rn is derived.
In Case b; Ring 1 can go in any of the four fingers, so it has 4 choices. Ring 2 can go in any of the four fingers but it has five choices. There is a finger, say F3, which contains the ring R1. Now, on F3, R2 has two choices it can go above R1 or below R1. So, the total number of choices for R2 is 5. Ring 3 can go in any of the four fingers but it now has 6 choices. Ring 4 can go in any of the four fingers but it will now have 7 choices.
Complied by: www.handakafunda.com Ring 5 can go in any of the four fingers but it will now have 8 choices. So, the total number of way of distribution of rings is = 4 x 5 x 6 x 7 x 8 = This is essentially how the formula is derived.
Funda 3: Number of ways of arranging n items, out of which p are alike, q are alike and r are alike given that p + q + r = n Number of ways of distributing n distinct items, in groups of size p, q and r given that p + q + r = n
I hope that this would help you solve problems in the exam. May be the chocolate you end up getting is a Bournville. May be you would have earned it.
Set Theory - Maximum and Minimum values
The concepts of Set Theory are applicable not only in Quant / DI / LR but they can be used to solve syllogism questions as well. Let us first understand the basics of the Venn Diagram before we move on to the concept of maximum and minimum. A large number of students get confused in this so I have listed out each area separately. A venn diagram is used to visually represent the relationship between various sets. What do each of the areas in the figure represent?
I only A; II A and B but not C; III Only B; IV A and C but not B; V A and B and C; VI B and C but not A; VII Only C n(A B C) = n(A) + n(B) + n(C) n(A B) n(A C) - n(B C) + n(A B C) As per the above diagram, n(A) = I + II + IV + V n(B) = II + III + V + VI
Complied by: www.handakafunda.com n(C) = IV + V + VI + VII n(A B) = II + V n(B C) = V + VI n(C A) = IV + V n(A B C) = V n(A B C) = I + II + III + IV + V + VI + VII
Note: While doing such questions, it is advisable that you take the least no. of variables to fill up the empty space. As a practice if n(A B C) is missing, take that as x and proceed. For Maximum and Minimum of values, the key point to note is: If you allot the a value to the intersection, it will get added to all the indivudal sets but will bring down the total.
Example: In a survey it was found that 80% like tea whereas 70% like coffee. What is the maximum and minimum number of those who like both? Ans: First thing to note is that no information is mentioned about the people who dont like either of them. So that value is flexible and can change. n(tea) = 80 n(coffee) = 70 n(total) = 100 {This includes those who like neither.} n(tea U coffee) = ??? {We dont know this value and it is flexible} If we want to maximize those who like both, we have to maximize the value in the intersection. So, we have to minimize the value of the union. n(tea coffee) max = 70 {It is limited by the higher of the two values}
In this case, our venn diagram will look something like this (Red is tea & Purple is coffee):
In this case 20% of people like neither tea nor coffee. Course Details: http://bit.ly/handaCAT13
If we want to minimize those who like both, we have to minimize the value in the intersection. So, we have to maximize the value of the union. We know that the maximum possible value of the union ie n(tea U coffee) = 100 So, we need to figure out the surplus : n(tea) + n(coffee) = 80 + 70 = 150. The surplus is = 150 100 = 50 So, the value of the intersection = value of the surplus = 50 This could have also been obtained by the formula n(a U b) = n(a) + n(b) n (a b)
In this case, our venn diagram will look something like this (Red is tea & Purple is coffee):
In this case, there is no one who likes neither coffee nor tea.
Let us look at a slightly more complicated problem when we have to deal with three sets and the value of union of the sets is fixed.
Example: In a survey it was found that 40 % like tea, 50 % like coffee and 60 % like milk. Every person likes at least one of the three items tea / coffee / milk. What are the maximum and minimum possible values of those who like all three? Solution: Currently our Venn Diagram looks like this:
First of all, we need to figure out the surplus. Course Details: http://bit.ly/handaCAT13 Use coupon code CATEB11 to get 11% OFF
Complied by: www.handakafunda.com Surplus = 40 +50 + 60 100 = 50
The surplus should be taken care of by adding to the intersection of all three or any of the two. If we want to maximize those who like all three, we need to maximize the intersection of all three. Adding 1 to the intersection of all three takes care of a surplus of 2. To take care of a surplus of 50, we need to make n (tea coffee milk) = 25
Note: If the union of the sets was not fixed i.e. the line Every person likes at least one of the three items tea / coffee / milk was not given in the question then the answer would have been . Our venn diagram will now look like this:
If we want to minimize those who like all three , we need to minimize the intersection of all three. But we have to take care of the surplus of 50. We can do that adding them to the intersection of any two of them. Adding 1 to the intersection of two sets, takes care of a surplus of 1. So, n (tea coffee milk) min = 0
We can take care of the surplus 50 in many ways by adding them in any order to the intersection of two sets. Three of those many ways are given below in Venn Diagrams.
I hope that this will help you in solving problems related to Set Theory
Dealing with 4 Sets
CAT 2012 had a little surprise for some of the students in the form of a question based on four sets. As far as I can remember, questions from set theory in CAT have always been based on two or three sets and CAT 2012 was the first time a question based on four sets was asked. As a concept, this had been neglected by many coaching institutes as it had never been asked and can be time consuming to solve in the exam.
Let us first try and understand what a Venn Diagram for four sets would look like. If there are 4 sets (A, B, C & D), then our Venn Diagram will need 15 separate sections. Every object can either be in a particular set or not. This would give us a total of 2222 = 16 choices. 1 of these choices would be when the object will not be any of the sets. Hence, the Venn Diagram will need 16 1 = 15 separate sections.
Couple of representations that I could find on Googling Venn Diagram 4 sets is given below:
Both of them are valid, but that does not mean that you can use them. May be you could, but it would be extremely difficult to draw and manage these.
Given below is the one that I have been using for solving questions based on four sets and I do not even remember where I first picked this up. It also indicates the 15 regions separately which need to be covered in a Venn Diagram of four sets. Over and above that, it is really easy to draw which is a big plus for someone like me who once in class 6th tried to draw a deer for an assignment to draw an animal and got pass marks because the teacher thought it was a buffalo. #TrueStory
I think it can be best understood if we solve couple of questions based upon it.
Example : In a college library, four different business newspapers - Economic times, Business standard, Business Line and Financial Express - are available. All students visit the library regularly but 20% of them do not read any business newspaper. The four newspapers given in the abo ve order are read by 230,180,180 and 220 students respectively. The number of students reading exactly 2 newspapers for any two newspapers is 20. There are 30 students who read all the four news papers but there is nobody who reads exactly three out of four newspapers. Questions based upon the above information are given below.
Let us first draw the Venn Diagram with the information that is given to us. It will look something like what I have drawn below:
We should now try to fill the missing areas such as people reading only one newspapers. People reading only Economic Times: 230 (20+20+20+30) = 230 90 = 140 People reading only Business Standard: 180 (20+20+20+30) = 180 90 = 90 People reading only Business Line: 180 (20+20+20+30) = 180 90 = 90 People reading only Financial Express: 220 (20+20+20+30) = 220 90 = 130 If we put the above information in the Venn Diagram, it should look something like this:
Complied by: www.handakafunda.com Let us try to attempt the questions now. 1. How many students do not read any newspaper at all?
Answer: We know that 20% of the students do not read any newspaper. This means that 80% of the students read at least one newspaper. These 80% people are represented in the 15 regions in the above Venn Diagram. So, 80% of total = (140 + 90 + 90 + 130) + 620 + 30 = 600 Total = 600/0.8 = 750 Students who do not read any newspapers = 20% of 750 = 150 students.
2) What percentage of the people reading Business Standard also read at least one other newspaper? Answer: Out of the 180 students who read Business Standard, 90 read only Business Standard. This means that the other 90 students also read at least one other newspaper. Required percentage = (90/180) 100 = 50%
3) If all the students in the college including those who do not read any newspaper read at least one newspaper, (Out of the four newspapers above) which he is not reading at present, then what is the least number of students reading all the four newspapers? Answer: If the above mentioned condition happens, all those who are reading no newspaper will start reading one; all those who are reading one newspaper will start reading two; all those who are reading two newspapers will start reading three and all those who are reading three newspapers will start reading all four. The ones who were reading all four newspapers earlier will continue to read all four. Least number of students reading all four = No. of students reading three newspapers earlier + No. of students four newspapers earlier = 0 + 30 = 30.
I hope after reading this you will be better placed than the students who were surprised when they saw four set related question in CAT 2012.
I have also started a thread on Pagalguy Forums, which contains a list of all my articles till date. The articles are sorted topic-wise and you can suggest topics for future posts on that thread.
Problems based on Grids and Chess Boards
Problems based on grids / chessboards have been asked in CAT and other MBA entrance exams over the years. They seem really difficult when you encounter them for the first time but once you get the hang of things they become really simple. The key lies in understanding the basic concepts involved.
The most common grid structure that we are all familiar with is the chessboard. Let us look at some of the common questions based upon grid.
Q1. What is the number of squares on a chessboard? Squares of size 1x1 = 8^2 = 64 Squares of size 2x2 = 7^2 = 49 . . Squares of size 8x8 = 1^2 = 1 Total number of squares = 1 + 4 + 9 .. 49 + 64 = 204
You could have also used the formula ^ + ^ + ^ n^ = n(n+ )( n+ )/ In this case, you would have got = 8*9*17/6 = 12*17 = 204
Q2. What is the total number of rectangles on a chessboard? To form a 8 x 8 chessboard, we need 9 horizontal and 9 vertical lines. If we select any 2 lines from the 9 horizontal lines and any 2 lines from the 9 vertical lines, we will get a rectangle Total number of rectangles = 9C2 * 9C2 = 36*36 = 1296
Q3. In how many ways can you place 2 rooks on a chessboard such that they are not in attacking positions? The first rook can be placed in 64 ways The second rook cannot be placed in the same row or the same column. So, it has 7 rows and 7 columns left for it. It can be placed in 49 ways. But the order in which the rooks are placed is not important. So, it will be divided by 2! Total ways = 64*49/2 = 1568
Q4. In how many ways can you place 8 rooks on a chessboard such that they are not in attacking positions?
The first rook can be placed in 64 ways. The second rook can be placed in 49 ways. . . The eigth rook can be placed in 1 way But the order in which the rooks are placed is not important. So, it will be divided by 8! Total ways = 64*49*364*1/8! = 8! = 40320
Q5. In how many ways is it possible to choose a white square and a black square on a chess board so that the squares must not lie in the same row or column? [CAT 2002] The white square can be chosen in 32 ways.
If we remove the row and the column which contains the chosen white square, we will be left with 7 Rows & 7 Columns containings a total of 49 squares (24 black and 25 white). We would have removed 15 squares (7 white and 8 black) Required ways = 32*24 = 768
Q6 In how many ways can you go from A to B? (Shortest path)
To go from A to B, you need to make 4 right moves (R) and 6 up moves(U). One of the possible paths could be RRRRUUUUUU Any rearrangement of the above would give you a different shortest path from A to B. RRRRUUUUUU can be rearranged in 10!/(4!6!) = 210 ways because among the 10 entities four Rs are identical and 6 Us are identical.
Another way of solving this could be: From the 10 moves that you have to make select the 4 moves which will be Right moves. This can be done in 10C4 = 10!/(4!6!) = 210 ways
To go from A to B, you will have to follow the path APQB
A to P can be done in 4C2 = 6 ways (Select 2 right moves from a total of 4 moves) P to Q is only one way (The path through the red rectangle) Q to B can be done in 3C1 = 3 ways (Select 1 right move from a total of 3 moves) Total ways = 6 x 1 x 3 = 18 ways
Total ways (if the red rectangle was not there) = 10C4 = 210 PQ is the road which has been removed. It would make all the routes which included the road PQ as invalid. So, all routes consisting of APQB will be invalid A to P = 5C3 = 10 P to Q = 1 Q to B = 4C3 = 4 Invalid ways = 10 x 1 x 4 = 40 Total valid ways = 210 40 = 170 ways
[CAT 2008] The figure below shows the plan of a town. The streets are at right angles to each other. A rectangular park (P) is situated inside the town with a diagonal road running through it. There is also a prohibited region (D) in the town.
Q9. Neelam rides her bicycle from her house at A to her office at B, taking the shortest path. Then the number of possible shortest paths that she can choose is
Let us call the road through park as MN. The path Neelam will take is AMNB. Neelam can go from A to M in 4C2 = 6 ways. M to N in 1 way N to B in 6C2 = 15 ways. Number of possible shortest paths = 6*15 = 90
Q10. Neelam rides her bicycle from her house at A to her club at C, via B taking the shortest path. Then the number of possible shortest paths that she can choose is
Neelam can go from A to B in 90 ways. From B to C via N = 6 (and not via M) From B to C via M = 7 ways
Complied by: www.handakafunda.com In all 90*(6+7) = 1170 ways
I hope you enjoyed this post and if you get a grid based question in CAT, you will be able to crack it.
Introduction to Probability for CAT 2013

Course Details: http://bit.ly/handaCAT13 Use coupon code CATEB11 to get 11% OFF
Probability has always been a fascinating topic to teach. The pleasure that I get out of correcting silly mistakes, which are plenty in questions based on probability can be considered sadistic by some or a truly noble thing to do by others. I hope the percentage of the latter would be higher but I think the percentage of the former is higher. Let me try to redeem the reputation a little bit by talking about the basics of the topic, which most of the readers here might know but would be really important bit for those who dont.
Funda #1 P(A) = Probability of an event is defined by the above formula. Now where people make mistakes is in the understanding of the word outcome. The outcomes, which are considered for probability, have to be equally likely in nature. They cannot be any random outcomes of your choice. If you think this is obvious then let me give you an exercise: What is the probability of getting a 4 on the throw of a regular dice? Many of you would say the answer is 1/6 because there are six possible outcomes getting a 1 or a 2 or a 3 or a 4 or a 5 or a 6; and out of these six possible outcomes one is favorable. If that is what you are thinking you are right. What do you think is wrong in my explanation if I say that the answer is because there are two possible outcomes getting a 4 and not getting a 4; and out of these two possible outcomes one is favorable. What is wrong in this? I am covering all possible outcomes. The wrong part is that the outcomes are not equally likely. In probability, the outcomes which are considered or counted have to be equally likely outcomes.
Funda #2 Exhaustive events are those which will cover all the possible outcomes. For example, in the throw of a dice getting a 1, getting a prime and getting a composite are exhaustive events because if you consider all of them together they cover all the possible outcomes {1; Primes 2,3,5; Composites 4,6} For Exhaustive Events: P(A) + P(B) +P(C) = 1 Mutually Exclusive events are those which will have nothing in common between them. For example, in a race A winning the race and B winning the race are mutually exclusive events. It is
possible that someone other than A or B might win the race but it is not possible that both of them will the race. For Mutually Exclusive Events: P(A B) = 0 Complementary events are a sub-type of exhaustive events, which have nothing in common between them and there is no other event possible. For example, in a coin toss getting a head or getting a tail are complementary events. For example, in case of sex of students in a class boys or girls are complementary events. For example, in case of shooting a target hitting or missing are complementary events. For Complementary Events: P(A) + P(A) = 1 & P(A A) = 0 All Complementary Events are Exhaustive & Mutually Exclusive events.
Funda #3 Addition Rule: P (A U B) = P(A) + P(B) P(A Multiplication Rule : P(A B) = P(A) P(B/A) = P(B) P(A/B) B)
For Independent Events P(A/B) = P(B) and P(B/A) = P(B)
P(A B) = P(A).P(B) P (A U B) = P(A) + P(B) P(A).P(B)
Funda #4 The questions of the type when the same person tries to do something multiple times are pretty common in tests. A good example would be when you are trying to bomb a bridge in how many attempts the probability of the bridge getting blown would go above 80%. Or if you are an archer trying to hit a target, what is the probability that you will hit the target 4 times out of 7. These type of questions are primarily based on complementary events, so if the probability of one event is p; then the probability of the other event will be 1 p If the probability of an event occurring is P, then the probability of that event occurring r times in n trials is = nCr x Pr x (1-P)n-r
Funda #5
In cricket and more so in football, you might have seen the betting odds displayed on the top right / left of the sports page. Those odds are just a way of representing the probability of a particular team winning or losing. If the odds in favor of India in an India Vs. Australia match are 4:5; then the probability of India winning the match is not 4/5 but 4/9. Odds do not represent favorable and total outcomes but they give a ratio of the favorable and unfavorable outcomes. Odds in favor = Odds against =
I think this should suffice for an introduction to probability. I hope you liked this post and do provide feedback and / or ideas for future posts via the comment section.
Logical Reasoning
Cubes and Matchstick Problems

If it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn't, it ain't. That's logic. Tweedledee in Lewis Carolls Through the Looking Glass . If the above line confused you, trust me you are not alone. Even God can vanish in a puff of logic. To know how, you can probably jump to the end of this post. To those who choose not to skip let us discuss few common types of Logical Reasoning problems.
Type 1: Cube problems: A cube is given with an edge of unit N. It is painted on all faces. It is cut into smaller cubes of edge of unit n. How many cubes will have x faces painted? In these types of questions, the first thing that we need to figure out is the number of smaller cubes. For this, we look at one particular edge of the big cube and figure out how many smaller cubes can fit into this. It will be N/n. So, the number of smaller cubes will .
A cube has 6 faces and none of the smaller cubes will have all faces painted. As a matter of fact, none of the smaller cubes will have even 5 or 4 faces painted. The maximum number of faces, which will be painted on a smaller cube, will be 3. This will happen only in the case of the smaller cubes that emerge from the corners of the big cube. So, number of smaller cubes with 3 faces painted = 8 (Always) For 2 faces to be painted, we will have to consider the smaller cubes that emerge from the edges of the big cube (leaving out the corners). So, the smaller cubes on every edge will be edges in a cube. So, number of smaller cubes with 2 faces painted = For 1 face to be painted, we will have to consider the smaller cubes that emerge from the face of the big cube (leaving out the corners and the edges). So, the smaller cubes on every face will be . There are 6 faces in a cube. So, number of smaller cubes with 1 face painted = For no face to be painted, we will have to consider the smaller cubes that emerge from the inside of the big cube (leaving out the outer surface which was painted). Imagine this as taking a knife and cutting a slice of width n from every face of the cube. You will be left with a smaller cube with an edge of N -2n. Number of smaller cubes that you can make from the resulting cube is . There are 12
So, number of smaller cubes with 0 face painted = Let us take an example to elucidate this type of problem. Eg 1: A painted cube is given with an edge of 15 cm. Smaller cubes are cut out from it with an edge of 3 cm each. How many cubes will have 3 faces painted, 2 faces painted, 1 face painted and no face painted. Solution: Total number of smaller cubes = (15/5) 3 = 125 3 faces painted = 8 cubes. 2 faces painted : Consider an edge of size 15 cm. We have removed the corners that take away 3 cm from each corner of the edge. Now our edge is of 9 cm. 3 cubes of 3 cm each can come from it. There are 12 edges. So, there will be 3 x 12 = 36 cubes. 1 face painted : Consider a face. If we have removed 3 cm from each edge of the face, we will be left with a square of side 9 cm or area 81 sq cm. There can be 9 smaller squares that can be formed on that face with an area of 9 sq cm each. These 9 will be the cubes which will have 1 face painted. There are 6 faces. So, there will be 9 x 6 = 54 cubes. No face painted: Cut slices of 3 cm each from each face of the cube. We will be left with a smaller cube of edge 9 cm. Number of smaller cubes that can be formed from it is (9/3) 3 = 27. So, 27 cubes will have no faces painted. You can use this to verify the formulas above and also note that 8 + 36 + 54 + 27 = 125. This means that there is no need to find out all four using the formula, just find any three of them and the other would emerge by using the total. In an exam, this might save you some valuable time.
Type 2: Matchstick Game: You are playing a matchstick game with Mr. Bond. There are n matchsticks on a table. On a players turn, he can pick any number of matchsticks upto p (p is typically quite smaller than n). Whosoever picks the last matchstick loses the game. It is your turn first. How many matchsticks should you pick (assuming that you are smart and will play to win) that you will always win? First remove 1 matchstick from consideration, as that would be the matchstick that Mr. Bond will pick and lose the game. Find out Remainder You should pick q matchsticks in the first turn. After that if Mr. Bond picks r sticks, you should pick p+1-r sticks and you will win the game. Once again, let us take an example.
Eg 2: There are 105 matchsticks on a table and a player can pick any number of matchsticks from 1 to 10. The person who picks the last matchstick loses the game. You are playing the game against Mr. Bond and it is your turn first. How many matchsticks should you pick in the first turn such that you always win the game? Solution: You should pick Remainder matchsticks to win the game.
Let us look at few scenarios, in which you have picked 5 sticks and there are 100 sticks left on t he table. It is Mr. Bonds turn now.
Round ID Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5 Round 6 Round 7 Round 8 Round 9
Mr. Bond Picks 5 8 7 4 10 8 1 2 9
Sticks Left 100 5 = 95 89 8 = 81 78 7 = 71 67 4 = 63 56 10 = 46 45 8 = 37 34 1 = 33 23 2 =21 12 9 = 3
You Pick 10 + 1 5 = 6 10 + 1 8 = 3 10 + 1 7 = 4 10 + 1 4 = 7 10 + 1 10 = 1 10 + 1 8 = 3 10 + 1 1 = 10 10 + 1 2 = 9 10 + 1 9 = 2
Sticks Left 95 6 = 89 81 3 = 78 71 4 = 67 63 7 = 56 46 1 = 45 37 3 = 34 33 10 = 23 21 9 = 12 3 2= 1
As only 1 stick is left, Mr. Bond will have to pick it and lose the game. I recommend, that you try out such scenarios with a friend. Nothing validates a concept more than a real -life implementation, especially if it is on a bet.
For those who are still wondering what did just happen (as I did when I first read this concept), I suggest you pick up Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and read about how God vanished in a puff of logic.
Games & Tournaments

In Logical Reasoning very often we encounter problems based on games of tournaments. The first thing that as a CAT taker you need to realize is that such tournament based format offers the examiner a multitude of options. So, there cannot be a set formula for solving such kind of questions. However, if you look at the CAT papers of past few years a pattern seems to emerge. Let us discuss couple of them.
Type 1: The questions are typically in a set where the data will be either in the standard tabular format or a format which you would never find on Cricinfo or for that matter any other ESPN website. The different for the sake of being different format essentially tests a CAT takers ability to infer data in newer formats.
An example of this would be: Each diagram communicates the number of runs scored by the three top scores from India, where K, R, S, V, and Y represent Kaif, Rahul, Saurav, Virender, and Yuvraj respectively. The % in each diagram denotes the percentage of total score that was scored by the top three Indian scorers in that game.
You can get the complete set of questions from here. I will not get into the detail of solving this particular set. Once you interpret the information, the questions are really simple. The catch in this question (this type of questions) is to interpret the given data.
Complied by: www.handakafunda.com Let us look at this information in a different way:
Runs by Kaif Runs by Rahul Runs by Saurav Runs by Virender Runs by Yuvraj Runs by Top 3 Top 3 as a %age of total Total runs
Pakistan 28
South Africa 51 49 75
Australia 55 50 87
130 40 90% 70%
80%
As you can see, the triangular format is no different from providing the same information to the student in a table. It is just a little more intimidating in a pressure situation and that intimidation is exactly what you should avoid. With some very simple addition and calculation you will be solve this problem set. Bottom line: Even if it takes a couple of minutes, it is best to represent information in a format that you are comfortable with.
Type 2: For some reason, Tennis appears to be a favorite among exam setters. Actually Tennis does offer some very interesting possibilities such as seeds, an unconventional scoring and the knockout feature. Knockouts are inherent in the sport of Tennis and hence used frequently by exam setters. Note : In a knockout tournament, No. of matches = No. of players 1 Let us look at few ideas related to questions on seeded players. Lets say in a tournament there are n players and they are seeded (ranked) from 1 to n. Typically this n is a power of 2 like 32 or 64 or 128.
In the first round the highest seeded player plays the lowest seeded player, the second highest seeded player plays the second lowest seeded player and so on. To put it into perspective: Round 1 Match 1 Seed 1 Vs Seed n Round 1 Match 2 Seed 2 Vs Seed (n-1) Round 1 Match 3 Seed 3 Vs Seed (n-2) . . Course Details: http://bit.ly/handaCAT13 Use coupon code CATEB11 to get 11% OFF
Complied by: www.handakafunda.com Round 1 Match n/2 Seed n/2 Vs Seed n/2 + 1
In the second round, winner of Match 1 plays winner of Match n/2; winner of Match 2 plays winner of Match n/2 1 and so on. In this kind of questions, an upset comes into the picture which essentially means that a lower seeded plays beat a higher seeded player. The questions are typically of the format: Ques: Who will play match 36 in Round 1? Ans: It will be played between the 36th highest seed and the 36th lowest seed. The 36th lowest seed can be sometimes difficult to figure out but you can figure it out easily by calculating (n+1) 36.
Note : The rth match in Round will be played between Seed r and Seed n+ -r Ques: If there are no upsets, then in Round 2 who will play the 5th match? Ans: One way of solving this question would be figuring out the winners of Round 1 and then figuring out the 5th from the top and the bottom. If there is no upset, then seed 5 will be there. The other player would be (n/2+1 5)
Note : If there are no upsets, then the rth match in the p th round will be played between Seed r and Seed Ques: Who will meet Seed 37 in the Quarterfinals of a tournament in which 64 players are taking part? Other than Seed 37s matches, there were no other upsets. We first need to analyze which round would be the quarterfinal: Round 1 (32 matches), Round 2 (16 matches), Round 3 (8 matches pre-quarter), Round 4 (4 matches quarterfinals). In Round 1, Seed 37 must have defeated 64 + 1 37 = 28 In Round 2, Seed 37 played the match that Seed 28 would have played. Seed 28 would have played against Seed 32 + 1 28 = Seed 5 In Round 3(pre-quarters), Seed 37 played the match that Seed 5 would have played. Seed 5 would have played against Seed 16 + 1 5 = Seed 12 and won it.
In Round 4 (quarterfinals), Seed 37 would meet the player that Seed 5 would have met. Seed 5 would have met 8+1-5 = 4. Hence, Seed 37 will meet Seed 4 in the quarterfinals. As a matter of fact, even the above solution is not the most optimal one. Because once you realize that Seed 37 defeated Seed 5, he would keep meeting the opponents that Seed 5 would have met.
I think I have taken enough of your time with this lengthy post but this time would be well spent if such a question appears in CAT or some other management entrance ex am.
Games and Tournaments 2
In my previous post, we discussed about two of the popular types of questions when it comes to games and tournament questions. So, if you are looking for questions on new types of data representation or questions based on seeding in a tennis tournament, probably you should read that. However, there is another popular type of questions with respect to Games & Tournaments and that is Football / Hockey tournament questions in which we have to find out Goal s scores, winners, ties, etc. In such tournaments, all competitors play a fixed number of matches. Points are awarded for wins / draws / losses. Then an overall ranking is decided by total points or average points per match. Sometimes other factors such as goals scored / goals faced also come into the picture to resolves ties in ranking.
Let us look at a question from CAT 2000. (Full set of questions here) Question: Sixteen teams have been invited to participate in the ABC Gold Cup cricket tournament. The tournament was conducted in two stages. In the first stage, the teams are divided into two groups. Each group consists of eight teams, with each team playing every other team in its group exactly once. At the end of first stage, the top four teams from each group advance to the second stage while the rest are eliminated. The second stage comprised several rounds. A round involves one match for each team. The winner of a match in a round advances to the next round, while the loser is eliminated. The team that remains undefeated in the second stage is declared the winner and claims the Gold Cup. The tournament rules such that each match results in a winner and a loser with no possibility of a tie. In the first stage, a team earns one point for each win and no points for a loss. At the end of the first stage, teams in each group are ranked on the basis of total points to determine the qualifiers advancing to the next stage. Ties are resolved by a series of complex tie-breaking rules so that exactly four teams form each group advanced to the next stage.
Now questions were asked on Total number of matches, minimum number of wins required for a team to guarantee advance (or possible advance) to next stage, maximum number of matches that a team can win in the first stage without advancing, etc. In first stage, teams are divided into two groups of 8 teams each. There they play a match against everyone exactly one ie 8C2 matches in every group. So 2*8C2 = 56 matches for the first stage. In second stage, there are 8 teams in a knockout stage. There will be one winner, so 8 1 = 7 So, total number of matches is 56 + 7 = 63
For a team to advance to the second stage, it should be among the top 4 in its group. Total points on stake in a group is the same as the total number of matches which is 8C2 = 28. To guarantee advance, it can have 3 teams with the same or more points. There can be 5 teams with 5 wins or 5 points. So, 5 wins is not good enough to ensure a birth in round 2. However, 6 wins will guarantee its advance. This also tells us that a team might have 5 wins but still not advance .
To figure out the minimum wins required to possibly advance, let us look at the method for n teams. n/2 1 teams should win maximum no. of matches. n/2 + 1 teams should have exactly the same number of wins. So in this question, the top 3 teams can have a maximum of 7 + 6 + 5 = 18 points. All other teams (5) have a combined score of 28 18 = 10 points. Their individual score is 2 points each and one of these five teams will advance to second stage. So, minimum wins required to advance is 2. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Let us look at another type of question in which we are given a table and we have to fill it. Given below is a random table at the end of hockey tournament. For each win two points were awarded and for a draw one point was given. We also know that the South Africa Spain match was a draw. No two teams have the exact same count for Win/Draw/Loss and Australia has won more matches than Spain. Figure out the result of every match from the table given below:
Team Name India Pakistan Australia Spain South Africa
Played
Won
Draw
Lost 0
Points 6 6 3 3
Each team has played 4 matches. A team can get a score of 6 in two ways: 3 Wins and 1 loss or 2 wins and 2 draws.
India did not lose, so it will have 2 wins and 2 draws whereas on the other hand Pakistan will have 3 wins No. of matches played will be 5C2 = 10 The total no. of points at stake is 20. South Africa has the left-over points which is 2. We also know that the South Africa Spain match was a draw. So, now our table looks like this:
Played 4 4 4 4 4
Won 2 3
Draw 2 0 Min(1) Min(1)
Lost 0 1
Points 6 6 3 3 2
2 Points can be achieved by 1 Win, 0 Draw, 3 Loss OR 2 Draw, 2 Loss. We know that both Spain & South Africa have at least 1 Draw. This means that South Africas 2 points are by 2 Draw, 2 Loss
Played 4 4 4 4 4
Won 2 3
Draw 2 0
Lost 0 1
Min(1) 2 2
Points 6 6 3 3 2
3 Points can be achieved by 1 Win, 1 Draw, 2 Loss OR 3 Draw, 1 Loss. As no two teams have the same Win/Draw/Loss count, one of the above applies to Australia whereas the other one applies to Spain. As Australia has won more matches, it will get the 1 Win, 1 Draw, 2 Loss. Our final table will look like this:
Played 4 4 4 4 4
Won 2 3 1 0 0
Draw 2 0 1 3 2
Lost 0 1 2 1 2
Points 6 6 3 3 2
Now, let us try and analyze the match results for the 10 matches (in no special order):
Pakistan has won 3 and lost 1. Pakistan cannot win against India as India did not lose a match. So, Match 1 India beat Pakistan Match 2 Pakistan beat Australia Match 3 Pakistan beat Spain Match 4 Pakistan beat South Africa We also know the result of South Africa Vs Spain Match 5 South Africa & Spain drew the match. Spain has lost against Pakistan and it needs to draw all other matches. Match 6 India & Spain drew the match Match 7 Australia & Spain drew the match Australia cannot draw another match as it has only 1 draw. It cannot win against India as India has no losses. So, it must have lost against India and the win must have come against the remaining team ie South Africa. Match 8 India beat Australia Match 9 Australia beat South Africa The only match remaining between India & South Africa must have been a draw as India scored wins against Pakistan and Australia. Match 10 India & South Africa drew the match
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Phew!! I hope that you lasted this long without actually playing the game of Banging head against the wall.
Data Interpretation Data Sufficiency
Tips for Fast and Easy Calculations

When you are competing against thousands or rather lakhs of people for a few seats, every minute matters. These days, probably what you did in your class 10th, 12th and graduation matters more than most things but hey, you cannot do anything about that until someone invents a time machine. Although it can be debated till whether it is fair / unfair / valid, etc. but I would like to reiterate you cannot do anything about that. So, let us concentrate on something that you can do. You can work hard. You can do well in CAT and other exams. Here are a few tips and tricks which you can use to calculate faster in an exam.
Calculating Squares Type 1: Numbers ending in 5 If we remove the last digit 5 from our number and are left with x, then the square will be [Product of x and x+1]25.
115^2 First part = 11 * 12 = 132 Last part = 25 Answer = 13225
395^2 First part = 39 * 40 = 1560 Last part = 25 Answer = 156025
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Let the distance of the number from 5 be d. Then the square will be [ 5+d][d^ ]. 53^2 Distance from 50 = 3 First part = 25 + 3 = 28 Last part = 3^2 = 9 = 09 Answer = 2809
44^2 Distance from 50 = 6 First part = 25 6 = 19 Last part = (-6)^2 = 36 = 36 Answer = 1936
Type 3: Numbers close to 100 [91,109] Let the distance of the number n from 107^2 Distance from 100 = 7 First part = 107 + 7 = 114 Last part = 7^2 = 49 Answer = 11449 be d. Then the square will be [n+d][d^ ].
98^2 Distance from 100 = 2 First part = 98 2 = 96 Last part = (-2)^2 = 4 = 04 Answer = 9604
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Calculate the square of the nearest multiple of 5. Add or subtract (Num + Multiple of 5) from it.
71^2 Nearest multiple of 5 = 70 Square of the nearest multiple of 5 = 70^2 = 4900 Number + Multiple of 5 = 70 + 71 = 141 Answer = 4900 + 141 = 5041
134^2 Nearest multiple of 5 = 135 Square of nearest multiple of 5 = 135^2 = [13*14][25] = 18225 Number + Multiple of 5 = 134 + 135 = 269 Answer = 18225 269 = 17956
Now some of you might be thinking, Where am I going to use this? This will come in handy in very few situations. Well, I agree with you. Prima facie, it does look like something which might not come in handy on the first day or even the first week. But if you spend 10 minutes practicing the above tips, I can guarantee that you will save lot more time during your preparation. And if you can save some time during the exam, well that is a big fat bonus. Having said that, given below is something that you can start using from today. Multiplying Two Digit Numbers In your normal way of multiplication, when you multiply 32 with 41, this is what you normally do:
Complied by: www.handakafunda.com For calculating faster, this is what you should do:
Please no jokes about my handwriting or the color combination.
The idea here is instead of two steps, you should calculate the answer in just one step. Consider your answer as a combination of three parts
Last digit = Product of the last digits (may generate a carry, does not in this case) = 2 * 1 = 2
Second last digit = Cross product of the digits (may generate a carry, does in this case) = 3 * 1 + 2 * 4 = 3 + 8 = 11 = 1 written down and 1 carry First part = Product of first digits (might include previous carry, does include in this case) = 4 * 3 + 1 = 13 Answer = 1312
Here are couple more examples to illustrate the idea further.(PTO)
Hopefully, you will save some time using these tips, if not in the exam then at least in your preparation.
Basics of Data Interpretation - Approximation

Data Interpretation questions typically have large amount of data given in the form of tables, pie charts, line graphs or some non-conventional format. The questions are calculation heavy and typically test your approximation abilities. A very large number of these questions check your ability to compare or calculate fractions and percentages. If you sit down to actually calculate the answer, you would end up spending more time than required. Here are few ideas that you can use for approximation.
Funda 1 Calculating (Approximating) Fractions When trying to calculate (approximate) a fraction p/q, add a value to the denominator and a corresponding value to the numerator before calculating (approximating).
Example : What is the value of Now for the denominator, either we take it close to 750 or to 800. Lets see how it happens in both cases. Clearly the answer is between 2 and 3, so for adding values / subtracting values from the denominator or the numerator, I will consider a factor of 2.5
Case 1: 762 is 12 above 750, so I will subtract 12 from the denominator. Keeping the factor of 2.5 in mind, I will subtract 25 from the numerator. My new fraction is Actual answer is 2.34776. As you can see, with very little effort involved in approximation, we got really close to the actual answer.
Case 2: 762 is 38 below 800, so I will add 38 to the denominator. Keeping the factor of 2.5 in mind, I will add 95 to the numerator. My new fraction is As you can see, even this is close to the answer. The previous one was closer because the magnitude of approximation done in the previous case was lesser.
Complied by: www.handakafunda.com Funda 2 Comparing Fractions
If you add the same number to the numerator and denominator of a proper fraction, the value of the proper fraction increases. If you add the same number to the numerator and denominator of a proper fraction, the value of the improper fraction decreases.
Note: You can remember this by keeping in mind that
Example: Arrange the following in increasing order Lets first compare 117/229 & 128/239. If we add 11 to the numerator and the denominator of the first proper fraction, the resulting proper fraction would be 128/240, which will be bigger than the original. We know that 128/240 is smaller than 128/239, as the latter has a lower base. So, 117/229 < 128/240 < 128/239 117/229 < 128/239 Now lets compare 117/229 and 223/449. If we add 11 to the numerator and the denominator of the second proper fraction, the resulting proper fraction would be 234/460, which will be bigger than the original. If we double the numerator and denominator of the first proper fraction, the resulting proper fraction would be 234/458. We know that 234/460 is smaller than 234/458, as the latter has a lower base. So, 223/449 < 234/460< 234/458 223/449 < 117/229 Using the above two results, we can say that 223/449 < 117/229 < 128/239
Note: This question can be solved much simply by just looking at the numbers and approximately comparing them with . I used this long explanation to illustrate the funda given above.
#Given below are few other shortcuts that might come in handy in calculations. Funda 3 Percentage Growth If the percentage growth rate is r for a period of t years, the overall growth rate is approximately:
Note: Derived from the Binomial theorem, this approximation technique works best, when the value of r is small. If the rate goes above 10%, then this approximation technique gives bad results. Also, if the rate is 5% then r = 0.05; if the rate is 7.2% then r = 0.072.
Funda 4 Comparing Powers Given that natural numbers a > b > 1, a b will always be less than b a
Note: There are only two exceptions to this funda. I hope someone in the comments will point them out. As I end this post, I am also wondering if Approximation of Dreams Oops! Data would have been a better title.
Introduction to Data Sufficiency

Data Sufficiency questions often involve very simple calculations. This does not mean that the questions are simple. It just means that the chances to make conceptual mistakes and / or silly mistakes are a little higher than usual. You will need to pay attention to detail in such questions. In Data Sufficiency, you need to figure out whether or not the data given in the question / statements is good enough to find out a unique answer. Once again is the data enough to find out a unique answer?
Please note that in Data Sufficiency: You do not need to find out the answer You need to find out whether or not you can find out the answer
A Data Sufficiency question / question set will contain the following: Instructions they may vary set per set Questions (with or without data) Two statements (with data may or may not be sufficient)
A typical set of Instructions (4 options): 1. 2. 3. 4. If one of the statements alone is sufficient If both the statements alone are sufficient If both statements together are sufficient but neither is sufficient alone If both statements together are not sufficient
Let us look at a few simple questions to understand the concept in a better way. Please note that these questions are way too simple to be asked in an exam like CAT, but they are necessary for understanding the idea.
Q1: What is the value of x, given that it is an integer? Statement A: Statement B: x < 10 x >8
By combining both statements, I can say that x lies between 8 and 10. The only integer between 8 and 10 is 9. So my answer should be Option 3
Complied by: www.handakafunda.com WRONG!
Nowhere in the question it is mentioned that x is an integer / natural number. Until and unless that is specified, we cannot uniquely determine the value of x. It can take any value from 8 to 10 {eg: 8.1, 8,2, 9.999, etc.} So, the correct answer would be Option 4
Q2 What is the value of x + y? Statement A: Statement B: 3x + 7y = 10 2x + 9y = 8
Two equations, two variables. I can solve the equations to find out the values of x & y and hence, I can find out the value of x+y Option 3
Q3 What is the value of x + y? Statement A: Statement B: 3x 7y = 10 14y = 6x + 19
By combining the two statements I get Two equations, two variables. I can solve the equations to find out the values of x & y. Hence, I can find out the value of x+y Option 3
WRONG! These two equations represent a set of parallel lines. They are inconsistent with each other. I will not be able to determine the values of x & y. Hence, I cannot find out the value of x+y Option 4
Q4 What is the value of x? Statement A: Statement B: x^2 5x + 6 = 0 x^2 6x + 8 = 0
From the first statement, I get the values of x as 2 & 3. I do not have a unique answer.
From the second statement, I get the values of x as 2 & 4. I do not have a unique answer. After combining the two statements, I get the unique value of x as 2. Option 3
From the first statement, I get the values of x as 2 & 3. I do not have a unique answer. From the second statement, I get the value of x as 4. I have a unique answer so there is no need to combine the two statements. Option 1
From the first statement, I get the value of x as 3. I have a unique answer. From the second statement, I get the value of x as 4. I have a unique answer. I am getting a unique answer from both the statements individually. Option 2 Now some of you might be thinking that we have got a different answer from both the statements and so the answer is not unique. Well, that thinking is incorrect. We have to figure out whether or not the given data was sufficient. When I am looking at Statement A, I am just looking at Statement A. If I can get a unique answer from Statement A, I will not even bother with what is going on in Statement B.
Q7 Is x a prime number? Statement A: Statement B: x^2 5x + 6 = 0 x^2 10x + 24 = 0
From the first statement, I get the values of x as 2 & 3. From the second statement, I get the values of x as 4 & 6.
But that is not what the question is. The question is whether or not x is a prime number. My answers should not be values of x, they should be Yes or No or Cant Say. So, let us calculate again. From the first statement, I get the values of x as 2 & 3. So, x is a prime number. I can answer the question and my answer is YES. From the second statement, I get the values of x as 4 & 6. So, x is not a prime number. I can answer the question and my answer is NO. I am getting a unique answer from both the statements individually. Option 2
I hope you would be comfortable with Data Sufficiency questions now. I would like to repeat that the questions mentioned above are on the simpler side and probably you should practice some real Data Sufficiency question to get a hang of the topic.
General Knowledge
General Awareness - Awards, Medals and Prizes (Part 1)

In philosophy, the study of knowledge is called epistemology, and the philosopher Plato famously defined knowledge as "justified true belief." There is however no single agreed upon definition of knowledge, and there are numerous theories to explain it. When it comes to studying or p reparing General Knowledge / Awareness for a competitive exam, there are some broad based theories or guidelines which a student can use. I hope you understand that preparing for General Awareness is not an exact science like mathematics and will never be. But we can make an educated guess. A topic which has been very popular in CMAT and other management exams has been Awards / Medals / Prizes. Although information about awards and awards winners is readily available on the interwebz, the problem is that there is too much information. Most students get bogged down looking at long lists. So, I have filtered that information and made shortened lists which would be easier to go through and remember. So, here we go.
Nobel Prizes : In exams, the probability of a question on Nobel Prizes is reasonably high. Having said that, it would be a waste of time to go through the entire list. It would make a lot more sense if you looked at the past couple of years and / or Indian winners. Given below is a list of Nobel Prize Winners for 2011 / 12
Complied by: www.handakafunda.com Indian Nobel Prize Winners
Given below is a list of Nobel winners from India or those who have some connection with India.
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Year 1969 1971 1981 1982 1992 1997 2002 2003 2006 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Author P. H. Newby V. S. Naipaul Salman Rushdie Thomas Keneally Michael Ondaatje Arundhati Roy Yann Martel DBC Pierre Kiran Desai Aravind Adiga Hilary Mantel Howard Jacobson Julian Barnes Hilary Mantel
Title Something to Answer For In a Free State Midnight's Children Schindler's Ark The English Patient The God of Small Things Life of Pi Vernon God Little The Inheritance of Loss The White Tiger Wolf Hall The Finkler Question The Sense of an Ending Bring Up the Bodies
Comments First Indian Connection Indian Connection Basis for film Basis for film Indian Basis for film Basis for film Indian Indian United Kingdom United Kingdom United Kingdom United Kingdom
In 1993 to mark the 25th anniversary it was decided to choose a Booker of Bookers Prize. Three judges chose Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children (the 1981 winner) as "the best novel out of all the winners.
A similar prize known as The Best of the Booker was awarded in 2008 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the prize. A shortlist of six winners was chosen and the decision was left to a public vote. The winner was again Midnight's Children
Complied by: www.handakafunda.com Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of American (Hungarianborn) publisher Joseph Pulitzer, and is administered by Columbia University in New York City. Gobind Behari Lal won the Pulitzer Prize for journalism in 1937. Jhumpa Lahiri won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for her book "Interpreters of Maladies" in 2000. Geeta Anand was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 2003 for her work on Pompe Disease, a muscular condition, which was made into a movie, "Extraordinary Measures", and later a book, "The Cure". Siddhartha Mukherjee won the Pulitzer Prize for general non-fiction in 2011 for his book, "The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer".
I hope you enjoyed this post and hopefully you will be able to better in CMAT because of this. In my next post, I would cover other important awards like Bharat Ratna, Padma Awards, Ramon Magsaysay Awards, etc.
General Awareness - Awards, Medals and Prizes (Part 2)

In my previous post, we talked about the Nobel Prize, the Booker Prize and the Pulitzer Prize. In this post, I would like to cover other important awards like Bharat Ratna, Padma Awards and Ramon Magsaysay Awards. Although there as hundreds, if not thousands, of people who have won these awards it is not possible to remember all their names. I have filtered out a few for you. These have a higher probability of being asked.
Ramon Magsaysay Award The Ramon Magsaysay Award is an annual award established to perpetuate former Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay's example of integrity in government, courageous service to the people, and pragmatic idealism within a democratic society. The Ramon Magsaysay Award is often considered Asia's Nobel Prize. There have been ~50 Indians who have been awarded the Prize. The prominent / recent ones are:
1959 1994 1996 2003 1965 1974 1985 1958 1963 2008 2008 2009 2012 1967
C. D. Deshmukh Kiran Bedi Government Service T N Seshan James Michael Lyngdoh Jayaprakash Narayan M.S. Subbulakshmi Baba Amte Vinoba Bhave Verghese Kurien Dr. Prakash Amte Community Leadership Dr. Mandakini Amte Deep Joshi Kulendei Francis Satyajit Ray Journalism, Literature, and Public Service
Complied by: www.handakafunda.com 1982 1984 1992 1997 2007 1962 2006 2011 2011 Arun Shourie R. K. Laxman Ravi Shankar Mahasweta Devi P. Sainath Mother Teresa Arvind Kejriwal Nileema Mishra Harish Hande
Best of Handa ka funda the Creative Communication Arts
Peace
Emergent Leadership
Bharat Ratna Bharat Ratna is the Republic of India's highest civilian award, for performance of highest order in any field of human endeavor. It was first awarded in 1954 to C. Rajgopalachari, C V Raman & S Radhakrishnan. It was last awarded in 2008 to Bhimsen Joshi. Of the 41 awards so far, there has been one award to a naturalized Indian citizen, Mother Teresa (1980), and to two non-Indians, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (1987) and Nelson Mandela (1990). In 2011, the Government of India modified the eligibility criteria to allow sportspersons to receive the award. Living recipients: Nelson Mandela (1990) A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (1997) Ravi Shankar (1999) Amartya Sen (1999) Lata Mangeshkar (2001)
Other Awards
Padma Vibhushan is the highest civilian honor after Bharat Ratna Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna is the highest sporting honor Dhyan Chand Award is highest award for lifetime achievement in sports and games. Dadasaheb Phalke Award is the highest award for lifetime achievement in cinema. Bhartiya Gnanpith Award is a literary award.
Shahitya Academy Fellowship is the highest literary honour conferred by the Government of India. In 2010, 5 people were honored with the Sahitya Akademi Fellowships. Dr. Bholabhai Patel, Sri Kunwar Narain, Sri Khushwant Singh, Prof. Kedar Nath Singh & Chandranath Mishra 'Amar'.
Year 2012 2012 2012 2012 2012 Awardee K. G. Subramanyan Mario Miranda Bhupen Hazarika Kantilal Hastimal Sancheti T. V. Rajeswar Saina Nehwal Gagan Narang Vijay Kumar Category Arts Arts Arts Medicine Civil Service Badminton Shooting Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Shooting Wrestling Athletics Hockey Dhyan Chand Award 2012 2012 Vinod Kumar Sukhbir Singh Tokas K Balachander Soumitra Chaterjee Shrilal Shukla Amarkant Chandrasekhar Kambar Wrestling Para-Sports Director Dada Saheb Phalke Award Actor Hindi Hindi Kannada Bhartiya Jnanpith Award Padma Vibhushan Award
200910 201011 201112
Yogeshwar Dutt 2012 2012 Jagraj Singh Mann Gundeep Kumar
2010 (58th) 2011 (59th) 2009 (49th) 2009 (50th) 2010 (51st)
Heads of Bodies National and International

When it comes to MBA entrance exams life CMAT, IIFT, SNAP, etc. the knowledge of the heads of important organizations is really helpful. More often than not, you will end up getting couple of questions on these. There is also a reasonable chance that you w ill get a question of Match-The-Following type where this information would be really useful. I have compiled a list of the current heads of important bodies and divided into two parts: India & International. Both of them are given below. (F) indicates that the person is a female.
India: Department / Position Attorney General of India Central Vigilance Commissioner Chairman, ISRO Chairman, LIC Chairman, NABARD Chairman, NASSCOM Chairman, National Knowledge Commission Chairman, Planning Commission Chairman, Press Council of India Chairman, Press Trust of India Chairman, SEBI Chairman, TRAI Chairman, UIDAI Chief Economic Advisor Chief Election Commissioner Chief Justice of India Person Goolam Essaji Vahanvati Pradeep Kumar K Radhakrishnan D K Mehrotra Prakash Bakshi Natarajan Chandrasekaran Sam Pitroda Manmohan Singh Markandey Katju R Lakshmipathy U K Sinha Rahul Kullar Nandan Nilekani Raghuram Rajan V S Sampath Altamas Kabir
Complied by: www.handakafunda.com Chief of the Air Staff Chief of the Army Staff Chief of the Naval Staff Comptroller and Auditor General Defence Secretary Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission Director, BARC Director of the Enforcement Directorate Director, Intelligence Bureau Foreign Secretary Governor, RBI National Security Advisor President, BCCI President, CII President, FICCI President, IOA Principal Scientific Adviser
Best of Handa ka funda Air Chief Marshall N A K Browne General Bikram Singh Admiral D K Joshi Vinod Rai Shashi Kant Sharma Montek Singh Ahluwalia Sekhar Basu Rajan Katoch Syed Asif Ibrahim Ranjan Mathai D. Subbarao Shivshankar Menon N. Srinivasan Adi Godrej Naina Lal Kidwai (F) Abhay Singh Chautala R Chidambaram
International:
Department / Position Commonwealth, Head Commonwealth, Secretary-General FIFA, President International Court of Justice, President
Person Queen Elizabeth II Kamalesh Sharma Sepp Blatter Peter Tomka
Complied by: www.handakafunda.com International Cricket Council, President International Labor Organization (ILO), DirectorGeneral International Monetory Fund (IMF), Managing Director International Olympic Committee INTERPOL, President INTERPOL, Secretary-General NASA, Administrator OPEC, President OPEC, Secretary-General SAARC, Chairman Alan Isaac
Guy Ryder
Christine Lagarde (F) Jacques Rogue Mireille Ballestrazzi (F) Ronald Noble Charles F Bolden Rostam Ghasemi Abdallah el-Badri Mohammed Waheed Hassan Manik Ahmed Saleem Irina Bokova (F) Anthony Lake Ban Ki Moon Kaushik Basu Jim Yong Kim Margaret Chan (F) Pascal Lamy
SAARC, Secretary-General UNESCO, Director-General UNICEF, Executive Director United Nations (UN), Secretary-General World Bank, Chief Economist World Bank, President World Health Organization (WHO), Director-General World Trade Organization (WTO), Director-General
I hope you will find this list useful. This list was last checked / updated on 18 th February 2013.
Extra Fundas:
Fundas for SNAP

Symbiosis National Aptitude (SNAP) Test is a common and mandatory written test for the admission to all the Post-Graduate Institutes of Symbiosis International University.
The structure of this years paper is given below:
Sr.No.
Section
Total Marks
1.
General English: Reading Comprehension, Verbal Reasoning, Verbal Ability
40
2.
Quanti ta ti ve, Da ta Interpreta tion & Data Suffi ciency
40
3.
General Awa reness : General Knowledge, Current Affairs , Business Scena rio
40
4.
Anal yti cal & Logi cal Reasoning
60
Total
180
The above information is via www.snaptest.org I would also recommend that you join the official SNAP Facebook page if you havent done it already. They keep posting questions / information about the exam which might come in handy. Few basic things that you should note based upon the official information available and papers from last two years are:
a) It is a two-hour exam with 150 questions. b) All questions are of 1 mark except of Analytical & Logical Reasoning that are 2 marks each. This means, that there will be 40 questions each in English, Quant & General Awareness and 30 in LR. c) Each wrong answer attracts 25% negative marks. So, avoid blind guesses.
In this post we would discuss a little about the General Awareness section. GA is a scoring area because it does not need any specific talent. Also, you need not devote too much time to this section. The questions are either-you-know-or-you-dont category and hence spending too much time on these would not be a good idea. Lets face it you cannot work out or calculate who is the Paramount Leader of China. I recommend a maximum of 20 minutes to go through this section. 30 seconds per question might sound a little optimistic but if you go through some of the sample papers for GA you will realize that it is enough.
Given below is a broad categorization of questions that have come in the exam in the past three years (2008 / 09 / 10). Topic-wise distribution:
Topic Business & Economy People Technology (IT / Science) Politics Awards Sports Geography - World Books & Authors Total
# of Ques (08) 9 0 9 7 1 2 4 3 35
# of Ques. (09) 12 3 9 4 1 5 5 1 40
# of Ques (10) 12 8 7 7 2 2 1 1 40
Time-wise distribution: # of Ques (08) Current Affairs Time independent Total 10 25 35 # of Ques. (09) 7 33 40 # of Ques (10) 16 24 40
There are few things that I will like to point out from the above data:
1. Questions on Business / Economy dominate the test. Reading business magazines of second-half of 2011 might be a good idea. 2. There are lot of questions on Science & IT as well but let me assure you that the exam-setters do not go into too much detail but it would help if you know what did Watson & Crick do. 3. The importance of current affairs has increased over the years. It would help to know who Arvind Kejriwal and Dhanush are.
There is no substitute or short cut to keeping yourself up-to-date and reading newspapers / magazines regularly. However, sample papers and old SNAP papers will come in handy in such situations. You can download a chapter (link this to the PDF) from my book Biz World. It wont be much but it will help you get started.
Do`s and Donts Month Before CAT

Dear Student, The most common question that I face these days is What should I do in the next few weeks before CAT. Given below is the best possible approach in my opinion. The Quantitative Aptitude section is the one that most non-mathematics students fear. You should first divide your study time in two parts. As of now, I would recommend a 50-50 allocation to funda-prep and test-prep. A plan to tackle the same should involve the following:
Students should revise the basics across all chapters. You can do that from t he revision section of minglebox [Please provide the appropriate link] and also from my website. This is recommended because CAT has over the years tested students on their ability to comprehend basics rather than the ability to tackle advanced problems. While solving advance level questions the focus should not be on time taken to solve the question but rather on the understanding of the method used to solve it. You should also try out a few topic tests. When you gain confidence in several topics, it will be time to start taking a couple of full-length QA tests. I would recommend taking every mock test as seriously as the real CAT. Time yourself for every test that you take and have a target time in which you have to finish the test. You can also revisit the mock tests which you have given in the past. I recommend that you spend a few hours to analyse the tests you have already given. Try and figure out the topics that you are doing well in. Also, try and figure out the topics in which you are not performing well. I recommend while doing this analysis, you divide the Quantitative Aptitude in these categories: a) Number System b) Geometry c) Arithmetic and Algebra d) Modern Maths (P&C, Functions, Probability, etc.) If you notice that you are messing up in one particular category, you still have time to repair that chink in your armour.
With this I would like to wrap up this session of Handa Ka Funda. Until next time, Shine On!!!
Do`s and don`ts Week Before CAT

Dear Student, With just couple of weeks left to the big day, given below are seven suggestions.
1) You should not fiddle with your test-taking strategy at this stage. As long as you know that the strategy you are using is giving you rewards, don't change it. 2) Do not over prepare. You should not take more than 5-6 full length tests in the remaining time. In the last one week you should ideally take only test. 3) The IRMA and IIFT entrance exams are scheduled for 8th November and 22nd November respectively. Normally, these exams are scheduled after CAT but as CAT is no longer a one-day test, they had to prepone. Do not let your performance in these two exams effect your CAT performance in a negative way. Some students get disheartened if they perform badly in couple of tests. On the other hand, some become complacent because of their performance in an exam. Make sure you are not a victim of the phenomenon mentioned above. 4) Avoid random guessing. I have never seen it work and I dont think that you are a special child of Goddess Fortuna. However, intelligent guessing is a smart idea. If you are down to two options, you should definitely go for it. 5) If you have practiced enough amount of variety, CAT DI should not be tough to tackle. And out of a set of five questions, at least three are bound to be easy. Learn the art of skipping questions in DI. The misconception is that you have to solve the whole set before you move on to the next set. I think this is the time which you should devote to DI more than anything else. The return on time invested is going to be the highest. 6) Know your limitations. If your percentiles in the Simulated CATs that you have taken are consistently below 80%ile then you should not attempt a large number of questions. 7) It happens often that high potential students fail to perform because of the pressure. So, I suggest that you unwind, go for movies, hangout with friends. Let me be a little more specific here, non CAT taking friends and the movie should be anything other than London Dreams. It is quite possible that you shoot yourself after watching that absurdity. With this I would like to wrap up this session of Handa Ka Funda. Cheers!
Two Days Before CAT !!!

Dear Students, The most neglected thing during the exam week is to be normal. I know it is easier said than done. For the week before and during the exam, life should be as normal as possible. A clear head is important for taking the exam efficiently.
Do you believe that you can tramp the last mile? What is your response? - I am doing great ; bring on the CAT - I am doing great, but I hope I dont stumble now - Man! I am sure I can crack the CAT. If only Math would stop killing me - When is SNAP?? Whatever is your response, to tramp the last mile - Have a fresh outlook * Rejuvenate Imagine you have just started your prep Imagine the last comprehensive test you took is your first test * Re-focus The Goal : The CAT The Time : Few days to go The Attitude : Everything to gain and nothing to lose Few other suggestions: # During the last week of the exam, students often resort to junk food, but if you really want to maintain your confidence it is extremely important to maintain the right kind of diet. Research shows that eating smaller meals more frequently is vital to maintaining high energy levels. Avoid foods with high sugar and fat - they will make you sluggish. Eat a nutritious breakfast (or meal) before the exam, but do not overeat. # The most common mistake that we commit during last week's preparation is by skipping the problems that we are unable to solve because of time-shortage. Make sure that your have instant access to a knowledge base. Your trainers are the best knowledge base that you have. Call them whenever you want to have the problem solved right away. You can mail me at ravihanda@gmail.com for similar stuff.
Personal Interview Skills

Dear Student, In this session I would like to cover some of the basic ideas about personal interviews. Since brevity is the soul of wit, and tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes, I will try to be brief.
Whom do the interviewers select?

The candidate they like so your job is to be liked by the panel. Attributes that normal panels like: 1. Honesty
Be ruthlessly honest in your answers
2. Knowledge You should know your subject You should understand your immediate environ
3. Clarity of thought/ ability to think Your answering should demonstrate analysis
4. Listening skills Listen to the words and the body language Answer the question asked
5. Ability to handle stress 6. Humility Panels dislike arrogance
Questions address the following areas:

Personal
Academic and family background Hobbies and interests Ideal person/ greatest achievement
Career-related
Why MBA? Specialization? 5/ 10 years from now?

Current job role/ reasons for leaving
Subject-related
Major in undergraduate Emphasis on fundamentals
Attitude-related
Opinions on reservation Stand on ethics
What can you do?

Prepare, prepare, prepare
1) Find out everything about the Business School 2) Prepare answers to typical questions like Tell us something about yourself Where do you see yourself 5/10 years from now? Why do you want to do an MBA? Why from our school? 3) Bring yourself up to date on events around the globe 4) Prepare questions that you can ask the interviewers 5) Learn to answer open-ended questions in a way that guides the interview to your area o strength 6) Remember, an interview is an interaction
You dont want to
Answer without letting the interviewer finish his/her question Volunteer more information than asked for Guess this is not a multiple choice situation Get into an argument with the panel Come across as opinionated and judgmental Appear to be in a hurry
You want to
Take your time: think before you answer Be pleasant and courteous
Contact Us
Ravi Handa
Phone: +91- 9765142632 , +91 - 9637446417 Email: ravihanda@gmail.com Facebook: facebook.com/ravihanda Pagalguy : pagalguy.com/u/ravihanda Twitter: twitter.com/ravihanda
Please check out my online CAT coaching course here: http://www.wiziq.com/course/9277lr-vr-di-ds-speed-calculations-quant-general-awareness Some of its key features are: 150+ Videos for clarity in concepts 60 Live Classes for doubt clarification Entire Quant, LR & DI Syllabus Course Designed for CAT 2013 (Updated after CAT 12) Use Coupon Code CATEB11 to get 11% OFF.

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