Reasoning - Inequality Tutorial

Tutorial on INEQUALITY (So called feared topic :P)
Might help/Might not. User discretion advised.

People who really wanna know whats in it may go forward to study this long long post.

NOTE: People who already know/people who are masters in this may ignore.

Putting it to good use MAY yield you 5 marks in 2 minutes in the much dreaded reasoning section.

We have all come across this caselet worth 5 marks in every other bank exam. It is considered to be a creepy sitter caselet by many. But the truth is it is a scoring topic. Trust me 5 marks in your kitty in 2 minutes. Now lets go about how to solve them.

Here are some prerequisites you should be knowing.

< (less than symbol), eg. 4<5

>(greater than symbol) eg.8>6

=(equal to) eg.6=6 :P

So lets take an example now.

In these questions symbols @, $, #, &, % are used with different meanings as follows.

P @ Q means P is neither smaller than nor equal to Q

P # Q means P is neither greater than nor equal to Q

P $ Q means P is neither greater nor smaller than Q

P % Q means P is not greater than Q

P & Q means P is not smaller than Q

In each of the following questions assuming the given statements to be true, find out which of the two conclusions I and II given below them is /are definitely true.

Give answer (1) if only conclusion I is true.

Give answer (2) if only conclusion II is true.

Give answer (3) if either conclusion I or II is true.

Give answer (4) if neither conclusion I nor II is true.

Give answer (5) if both conclusions I and II is true

Now lets take the first statement given “P @ Q means P is neither smaller than nor equal to Q”

Its obvious and easy to deduce it now. P>Q right?

The other two are similar. Now take the fourth and fifth statements. Many make mistake here.

Fourth statement reads “P % Q means P is not greater than Q”

We should remember that P<=Q. Most consider only P<Q. It will end up in 0/5 marks. Simple logic.

There are three symbols. Put them to use.

Ok remaining deduction is same as explained below. Try it.

Anyway we will be getting these. (practise as much as possible. 100% accuracy needed here. On the day of the exam shouldn’t take more than 15-20 seconds. You are supposed to write this on your rough sheet to make things easier for you)

P@Q =====> P>Q

P#Q ======> P<Q

P$Q======> P=Q

P%Q======> P<=Q

P&Q======> P>=Q

Now jumping to the questions.

6. Statements: A @ B, B $ C, C # D

Conclusions: I. A#D II. B@D

Here A@B is given. You are not required to manipulate anything now. Just copy the the thing

corresponding to this that you have already listed out.

A@B (similar to P@Q which says P>Q) ===> so A>B

Likewise do it for the other two given statements.

B$C=======> B=C

C#D=======> C<D

So half work done for this question. Now before looking at the conclusions given in the question, you

need to do two things. COMBINING and REALIGNING.

How?

Bring everything to the same symbol. Preferably to < symbol. What am trying to say is, if you deducted

given statements and got 5>4, then make 4<5.

So what have we got?

A@B=======> A>B

B$C=======> B=C

C#D=======> C<D

Now after realigning.

We have got B<A, B=C, C<D (Only first one changed. Remaining all are perfect)

COMBINING: Now how to write it in one line.

Chill. Write this way.

It is highly recommended to right this way.

Let me tell you why. (B=C)<A. Most of the times, we would consider only B<A and we will forget C<A.

Thanks to exam pressure. So writing it vertically is 100% foolproof.

Now comes the tricky part where 90% get caught. These 90% of people would end up with something

like this.

(B=C)<D<A.

IT IS WRONG MY DEAR FRIEND.

Know why. There is no relationship given/established between A and D. So this (wrong) statement

makes it hard and fast that D is less than A. Did anyone say it? Did you deduce it? NOPE. So this would

be your “ONE LINER REQUIRED TO ANSWER THE QUESTION”

Now go to the conclusions.

Conclusions: I. A#D II. B@D

What is A#D? A<D (copied from the template I wrote initially)

B@D ?? B>D

Now you don’t have to combine, realign blah blah.

Just compare with your one liner.

Is A<D??????? NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Simple. They are not on the same line. Relationship can be establishedwhen they are in the same line. (Can be established when they are in different lines too. Will show that in another example if at all I come across))

Conclusion 1 =========> NOOOOOOOOOOOO

Conclusion 2 B@D ====== B>D NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO because B<D

So answer none follows!!

NOTE: Your conclusion should be always true. But be alert if there is an option of the type either or. In this case both conclusions wont be true always. But anyone of them will be true. Just like syllogisms friend. Either or type

NOW THE NEXT QUESTION

7. Statements: P&Q, Q%R, R$S

Conclusions: I. Q $ S II. P#S

MY ONE LINER WOULD BE

Whats this red colour stuff......... Let me tell you. In this question there is no relation between P and R or S. Let me put this way. R and S are related only with Q and not P. This makes more sense. So for you not to forget this you gotta draw something like this.

Now go to conclusions.

Conclusions:

I. Q $ S ====> Q=S (Is it so? Noooooo. Though Q<=S, Q might be equal to or sometimes less

II. P#S =====> P<S (Is it so? Nooooooo. They are in two different lines and they are not in the

than S. As I said, your conclusion should be always true)

same red blanket. See how it helped :D :P

So answer is........ none follows !!

Now practice the remaining three problems.

For practice......... type bankersadda inequality in google. You will get a lot of links. Practice makes a man perfect and more importantly improves speed. Five marks in 2 minutes friends Think about it.

Hope it helped.

Any mistake can be pointed out. Improvisations could be suggested.

FOR PRACTICE:

8. Statements: P&Q, Q@R, R%S

Conclusions: I. Q%S II. P%S

9. Statements: A@B, B#C, C%D

Conclusions: I. B#D II. D@A

10. Statements: A@B, B%C, C@D

 Conclusions: I. D$B II. B@D