Reasoning Seating Arrangement-Circular Tips and Tricks

Seating Arrangement

In Reasoning section, another important Topic is Sitting Arrangement problems. The process of making a group of people to sit as prefixed manner is called Sitting Arrangement. In these questions, some conditions are given, on the basis of which you are required to arrange objects, either in a row or in a circular order. It is important to note, while making arrangements, all conditions given in the questions, should follow.

In Banking and Insurance exams, five to ten questions are frequently asked from this topic. There are mainly two types of sitting arrangement asked in competitive examinations:

1. Circle sitting Arrangement – Normal, Inward-Outward Both
2. Linear (Row) seating Arrangement

In this article, we will guide you how to solve these types of questions in exam. Now, lets us start with Circular sitting arrangement.

Type 1 – Circular Sitting Arrangement (Normal)

In circular sitting arrangement, you have to arrange people or objects around a circle, as per the given information in the questions.

Circular Arrangement

In normal circular arrangement, persons are sitting around a circle and facing the centre.

1. Left movement is called clock- wise rotation.
2. Right movement is called anti – clock- wise rotation.

According to the information, you have to specify the position of all the persons in the arrangement. The positions are specified through conditions like a particular person is sitting right or left of another person.

For e.g.

Question – Four persons are A, B, C and D is sitting in a circle facing the centre. A is sitting second to the left of D. C is sitting third to the right of A. C is sitting opposite to B.

(i) First step is to read the information and draw a circle.

(ii) After drawing a circle, find out who is on right side and who is on left side of.

(iii) Pick one information first and solve the questions accordingly. In question, it is given A is sitting second to the left of D. So, you have to fix the place of A and D in a circle.

After fixing the place of A and D, we will move to another information. Now, here it is given, C is sitting third to the right of A.

After fixing the place of A, D and C, we will move to another information. C is sitting opposite to B.

Solved Example:

Question: Eight friends P, Q, R, S, T, U, V and W are sitting in a circle facing the centre. Q is sitting between V and S. W is third to the left of Q and second to the right of P. R is sitting between P and V. Q and T are not sitting opposite to each other.

1. Who is third to the left of S?
   1. U
   2. T
   3. P
   4. Cannot be determined
   5. None of these
2. Which of the following statement is not correct?
   1. S and P are sitting opposite to each other
   2. R is third to the right of S
   3. T is sitting between U and S
   4. P is sitting between R and U
   5. T and R is sitting opposite to each other.

Solutions: First step is to draw a circular figure having eight persons. Now, fix the place of the persons or friends one by one according to the information.

Q is sitting between V and S. Here position of V and S is exactly not confirm, so we will skip this information and move to another information, which will fix the place of the person is a circle in a specific place.

Next information is – W is third to the left of Q and second to the right of P.

Here, it is important to note that – W is third to the left of Q and also second to the right of P. Some student’s confuse in this information and pick information as Q is second to the right of P, which is wrong.

After the fixing the place of W, P and Q we will move to another information. R is sitting between P and V. Q is sitting between V and S.

After the fixing the place of W, P, Q, V, R and S; we will move to another information. Q and T are not sitting opposite to each other means opposite of Q is U and T is sitting between S and W.

Now the correct answers is

1. (1) Third to the left of S is U.
2. (3) T is sitting between U and S is wrong statement.

Tips to solve ‘Seating Arrangement” questions

1. First step is to take a quick glance on the given information and you will get an idea of the situation of the persons.
2. Second step is to pick the useful information which is “definite information” and fix the place accordingly. For e.g. – A is sitting second to the left of B.
3. Do not pick the negative information in first step. Negative information means – which information does not tell anything definitely but it gives an idea to eliminate a possibility. For e.g. – A is not sitting on the immediate left of B. or B is not opposite of E.

Important note: Meaning of – and, who and adjacent in seating arrangement.

1. If two information is joining by “and” , than the information is talking about the first person. For e.g. – A is third to the left of B and second to the right of D. Here it means – A is sitting third to the left of B and also A is sitting second to the right of D. Many student’s confuse here and take information as a – A is sitting third to the left of B and B is sitting second to the right of D, which is wrong.
2. If two information is joining by “who”, than the information given after “who” is talking about the second person. For e.g. – A is third to the left of B who is second to the right of D. Here it means – A is sitting third to the left of B and B is sitting second to the right of D. Many student’s confuse here and take information as a – A is sitting third to the left of B and also A is sitting second to the right of D, which is wrong.
3. Adjacent – means – next to each other not opposite to each other. A and B is adjacent to each other, which means they are immediate neighbor of each other.