Aptitude Questions and Answers

Q1. A man decides to buy a nice horse. He pays $60 for it, and he is
very content with the strong animal. After a year, the value of the horse
has increased to $70 and he decides to sell the horse. But already a few
days later he regrets his decision to sell the beautiful horse, and he buys
it again. Unfortunately he has to pay $80 to get it back, so he loses $10.
After another year of owning the horse, he finally decides to sell the
horse for $90. What is the overall profit the man makes?

Ans:
Consider the trade-story as if it describes two separate trades, where: In
the first trade, the man buys something for $60 and sells it again for $70,
so he makes a profit of $10. In the second trade, the man buys something
for $80 and sells it again for $90, so he makes again a profit of $10.

Conclusion: The man makes an overall profit of $10 + $10 = $20.

You can also look at the problem as follows:

The total expenses are $60 + $80 = $140 and the total earnings are $70 +
$90 = $160. The overall profit is therefore $160 - $140 = $20.

Q2. A bus run at 100 km/hr top speed. It can carry a maximum of 6
persons. If speed of bus decreases in fixed proportion with increase in
number of person, find speed when three person are traveling in bus.

Ans:
100 Km/hr because that is the top speed of the bus.
Q3. A man wanted to enter an exclusive club but did not know the
password that was required. He waited by the door and listened. A club
member knocked on the door and the doorman said, "Twelve." The
member replied, "Six" and was let in. A second member came to the
door and the doorman said, "Six." The member replied, "Three" and was
let in. The man thought he had heard enough and walked up to the door.
The doorman said, "Ten" and the man replied, "five". But he was not let
in. What should have he said?

Ans:
The man had to reply the number of characters in the word the Doorman
was asking. He should have replied "Three" instead of "Five".

Q4. There are 20 pieces of bread to divide among 20 people. A man eats
3 pieces, woman eats 2 pieces and a child eats half piece of bread. Tell
the correct combination of men, women and children so that they are 20
people in total and everyone gets the bread. Note that a man cannot eat
less than 3 or more than 3. A woman cannot eat less than 2 or more than
2 and the child cannot eat less than half or more than half piece of the
bread. You have to tell there are how many are men, women and
children in those 20 people?

Ans:
There are 5 women, 1 man and 14 children.

Q5. A cube of side 4cm is painted with 3 colors red, blue and green in
such a way that opposite sides are painted in the same color. This cube is
now cut into 64 cubes of equal size.
How many have at least two sides painted in different colors?
How many cubes have only one side painted?
How many cubes have no side painted?
How many have exactly one side not painted?

Ans:
Cubes that have at least two sides painted in different colors are 24 + 8 =
32.
Cubes that have only one side painted are 24.
Cubes that have no side painted = 8.
Cubes that have exactly one side not painted = 0.

Q6. How many squares are there on a normal chessboard?

Ans:
There are actually 204 squares on a chessboard. Surprised! Here is the
explanation. There are 64 (1x1) squares. There are 49 (2x2) squares.
There are 36 (3x3) squares. There are 25 (4x4) squares. There are 16
(5x5) squares. There are 9 (6x6) squares. Then there are 4 (7x7) squares
and 1 big 8x8 square. So, there are a total of 204 squares on a normal
chessboard.

Q7. Three people picked 65 apples altogether. At the first tree they each
picked the same number of apples. At the second tree they each picked 3
times as many as they picked at the first tree. When they finished at the
third tree, the group had 5 times as many apples as they had when they
started at that tree. At the fourth tree the group picked just 5 apples. How
many apples did each person pick at the first tree?

Ans:
One apple.
Q8. 4 criminals are caught and are to be punished. The Judge allows
them to be freed if they can solve a puzzle. If they do not, they will be
hung. They agreed. The 4 criminals are lined up on some steps (shown
in picture). They are all facing in the same direction. A wall separates
the fourth man from the other three.

To Summarize:-
Man 1 can see men 2 and 3.
Man 2 can see man 3.
Man 3 can see none of the others.
Man 4 can see none of the others.
The criminals are wearing hats.
They are told that there are two white hats and two black hats.
The men initially don't know what color hat they are wearing.
They are told to shout out the color of the hat that they are wearing as
soon as they know for certain what color it is.
They are not allowed to turn round or move.
They are not allowed to talk to each other.
They are not allowed to take their hats off.

Now the question is "Who is the first person to shout out and why?"

Ans:
Man 1 will shout first. If Man 1 will not shout then Man 2 surely shouts.
Reason:
Man 1 can see the other two criminal’s hats. If the hats are same color
then he told his hat is opposite color of remaining two hats. So he shouts
first. If Man 1 does not shout, it means that the hats of Man 2 and Man 3
are of different color. So Man 2 sees the color of Man 3 hat and he tells
that the color of his hat is opposite to the color of Man 3 Hat.

Q9. At a party, everyone shook hands with everybody else. There were
66 handshakes. How many people were at the party?

Ans:
With two people, there is one handshake. With three people, there are
three handshakes. With four people, there are six handshakes. In general,
with n+1 people, the number of handshakes is the sum of the first n
consecutive numbers: 1+2+3+...+n. Since this sum is n(n+1)/2, we need
to solve the equation n(n+1)/2 = 66. This is the quadratic equation
n²+n-132 = 0. Solving for n, we obtain 11 as the answer
and deduce that there were 12 people at the party.

Q10. You have to measure exactly 4 liters of water, but you only have a
3-liter bottle and a 5-liter bottle. How do you do it?

Ans:
Fill the 3-litre bottle and pour it into the empty 5-litre bottle. Fill the 3-
liter bottle again, and pour enough to fill 5-litre bottle. This leaves
exactly 1 liter in the 3-litre bottle. Empty the 5-litre bottle; pour the
remaining 1 liter from the 3-liter bottle into the 5-liter bottle. Fill the 3-
liter bottle and pour it into the 5-liter bottle. The 5-liter bottle now has
exactly 4 liters.
Q11. If 5+3+2 = 151012, 9+2+4 = 183662, 8+6+3 = 482466, 5+4+5 =
202504 then what will be the answer of 7+2+5? Only 2% people are
able to solve this aptitude question. Let's see if you can do it.

Ans:
7 + 2 + 5 = 143542.
Explanation: a + b + c leads to a 6-digit number.
The first and second digits are the product of a and b.
The third and fourth digits are the product of a and c.
The fifth and sixth digits are b*(a+c) with the digits of the solution
reversed.

Q12. The sum of ages of 5 children born at the intervals of 3 years each
is 50 years. What is the age of the youngest child?

Ans:
4 Years.
Explanation: Let the ages of children be x, (x + 3), (x + 6), (x + 9) and (x
+ 12) years.
Then, x + (x + 3) + (x + 6) + (x + 9) + (x + 12) = 50
i.e. 5x = 20 and x = 4. So, the age of the youngest child (x) is 4 years.

Q13. The difference between a two-digit number and the number

obtained by interchanging the positions of its digits is 36. What is the
difference between the two digits of that number?

Ans:
The difference between the two digits of that number is 4.
Explanation:
Let the ten's digit be x and unit's digit be y.
Then, (10x+y)-(10y+x) = 36
i.e. 9(x-y) = 36 and that results to x-y = 4.
 Q14. Joyce has bought ten trees for her garden. She wants to plant these
trees in five rows, with four trees in each row. How must Joyce plant the
trees?

Ans:
The trees must be planted on the edges of a five pointed star as shown in
the figure below:-

Q15. A light bulb is hanging in a room. Outside of the room there are
three switches, of which only one is connected to the lamp. In the
starting situation, all switches are off and the bulb is not lit. If it is
allowed to check in the room only once to see if the bulb is lit or not
(this is not visible from the outside), how can you determine with which
of the three switches the light bulb can be switched on?

Ans:
To find the correct switch (1, 2 or 3), turn switch 1 to ON and leave it
like that for a few minutes. After that you turn switch 1 back to OFF,
and turn switch 2 to ON. Now enter the room. If the light bulb is lit, then
you know that switch 2 is connected to it. If the bulb is not lit, then it has
to be switch 1 or 3. Now touching the light bulb will give you the
answer. If the bulb is still hot, then switch 1 is connected to the bulb; if
the bulb is cold, then it has to be switch 3.

Q16. In the middle of a round pool lies a beautiful water-lily. The water-
lily doubles in size every day. After exactly 20 days the complete pool
will be covered by the lily. After how many days will half of the pool be
covered by the water-lily?

Ans:
19 days.
Since the water-lily doubles its size every day and the complete pool is
covered after 20 days, half of the pool will be covered one day before
that, so 19 days.

Q17. A snail is at the bottom of a 20 meters deep pit. Every day the snail
climbs 5 meters upwards, but at night it slides 4 meters back
downwards. How many days does it take before the snail reaches the top
of the pit?

Ans:
16 days.
Since the snail moves up 1 meter a day so it will reach 15 meters in 15
days. Next day it will again climb 5 meters upward and reaches the top.
 How to Solve Questions Based on Number Series
(FOR BANK PO, SSC, B. Ed. ASPIRANTS)
Most of the number series can be solved by addition and subtraction (Multiplication and Division
being the Supersets for these). In plain English that means you need to find what to add or
subtract to find the next (or missing) number in the series.

We will understand the concept by solving a few questions and then you can attempt some on
your own.

Example 1: Find the next number in the series: 1, 3, 6, 10, 15, __

Answer:

Looking at the series we find that the series is an "INCREASING" sequence.

So we try to find what is being added. Here the series is

1, 1+2, 1+2+3, 1+2+3+4

or Add 1, 2, 3, 4 and so on to the last number.

1+2 =3, 3+3 = 6, 6+4 = 10, 10+5 = 15

So the answer is 15+ 6 = 21.

Practice Question 1: 21, 25, 33, 49, 81, __

(a) 145 (b) 129 (c) 113 (d) 97

Ans (a)

Example 2: Find the next number in the series: 87, 80, 74, 69, 65, __

Answer:

Looking at the series we find that the series is a "DECREASING" sequence.

So we try to find what is being subtracted. The series is

87, 87 - 7 = 80, 80 - 6 = 74, 74 - 5 = 69, 69 - 4 = 65

So the answer is 65 - 3 = 62
Practice Question 2: 66, 36, 21, __

(a) 13.5 (b) 14.5 (c) 13 (d) 14

Ans (a)

Example 3: Find the next number in the series: 40, 15, 30, 25, 20, 35, __

Answer:

Looking at the series we find that the series is a "MIXED" sequence.

By mixed series we mean that it is composed of two different series.

i.e. 40, 30, 20, ... (decreasing) and 15, 25, 35, .. (increasing)

The trick here is to know which series will give us the answer. We see that the missing number
belongs to the decreasing series. Ignoring the other series the answer is

20 - 10 = 10

Practice Question 3: 7.5, 5, 15, 4, 30, 3, 60, 2, __

(a) 1 (b) 75 (c) 120 (d) 135

Ans (c)

Some Sample Questions (Easy to Difficult, No Options Given for Now, you don't need
them)

1. 8, 20, 32, 44, __

2. 55, 44, 33, 22, __

3. 63, 57, 52, 48, __

4. 100, 85, 75, 70, __

5. 96, 102, 114, 132, __

6. 17, 26, 44, 80, __

7. 10, 13, 12, 15, 14, __, __ (two missing numbers)

8. 12, 7, 18, 10, 24, 13, __

9. 2, 5, 11, 23, 47, 95, __

10. 1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36, __

Numerical Ability Questions

1.A bag contains a total of 90 coins in the form of 20 paise and 25 paise coins.If the total value
of coins in the bag is Rs.21, find the no of 25 paise coins in the bag?
1.60 2.55 3.65 4.70

Ans :60

2.Ten years ago,the age of anand was one third the age of bala at that time,the present age of bala
is 12 years more than the present age of anand.Find the present age of anand?
1.16 2.18 3.20 4.22

Ans :16

3.The Present ages of A & B are in the ratio of 9:7. 13 years ago their ages were in the ratio
25:18. What is the difference of their ages ?
1.14 2.16 3.18 4.20

Ans : (25-18)*13/(25*7-9*18) = 7
difference = (9-7)*7 = 14 yrs

4.The sum of a two digit number and the number formed by reversing its digits is 110.if the tens
digit is 2 more than the units digit.find the number?
1.64 2.46 3.24 4.42

Ans :10a+b+10b+a=110
11a+11b=110
a+b=10
a=2+b
a-b=2
solving, a+b=10 & a-b=2
a=6 and b=4
No is 64
5.Ajay and sita are two of Mr.kumars sons.ajay has half as many brothers as sisters.sita has as
many brothers as sisters.Find the number of children Mr.kumar has ?
1.7 2.8 3.6 4.9

Ans : 7

6.A car covers 4 successive 3km stretches at speed of 10kmph,20kmph,30kmph&:60kmph resp.

Its average speed is?
1.20 2.20 3.30 4.40

Ans : 20 ; total distance = 4 * 3 = 12 km

total time = 3/10 + 3/20 + 3/30 + 3/60 = 36/60 hr
speed =12/36 * 60 = 20 kmph

7.By selling 99 pens, a trader gains the cost of 33 pens.find his gain percentage?
1.33 1/3% 2.66 2/3% 3.50% 4.75%

Ans :33 1/3%

8.How many kgs of Basmati rice costing Rs.42/kg should a shopkeeper mix with 25 kgs of
ordinary rice costing Rs.24 per kg so that he makes a profit of 25% on selling the mixture at
Rs.40/kg?

Ans : Let the amount of Basmati rice being mixed be x kgs. As the trader makes 25% profit by
selling the mixture at Rs.40/kg, his cost /kg of the mixture = Rs.32/kg
(x * 42) + (25 * 24) = 32 (x + 25)
42x + 600 = 32x + 800
10x = 200 or x = 20 kgs

9.A certain sum of money amounts to Rs1125 in 5 years and to Rs1200 in 8 years. Find the sum
and the rate of interest.

Ans : In 3 years more years, the interest is Rs75.

So in 1 year, the interest is Rs25 & in 5 years the interest is Rs125.
Sum +5 years interest= Rs1125. So the sum is Rs1000.
And the rate of interest is 25/1000*100 i.e.2.5% p.a.

10.A, Band C started a business by investing Rs 2,20,000, Rs 3,50,000 and Rs 4,50,000.Find the
share out of an annual profit of Rs 10200?
Ans : Their profits 22:35:45
share of A = 22/102*10200 = 2200
share of B = 35/102*10200 = 3500
share of C = 45/102*10200 = 4500
11.3 numbers have an average of 30.if the two numbers are 14 and 28.third number is ?
Ans :sum of 3 numbers = 3*30 = 90.
third no = 90-(14+28)=48

12.If there are 6 arithmetic means between 5 and 33 then common difference is?
Ans : d=b-a/n+1
d=33-5/6+1
d=4

13.In a geometric progression,the first term and the common ratio are both equal to 2.find the
fourth term.
1.16 2.18 3.8 4.26
Ans : 16

14.14 men can do a work in 5 days working 4 hours a day.In how how many days can 7 men do
the same work,working in 10 hours a day?
1.4 2.8 3.12 4.16

Ans : m1*d1*h1= m2*d2*h2

14*5*4=7*10*d2
d2=4 days

15.what is the highest power of 3 in 200!?

1.97 2.197 3.65 4,82

16.In a kilometer race, A beats B by 200 mtr and C by 360 mtr.In a race of 500 mtr by how many
metres does B beat C ?
1.80 2.200 3.100 4.160

17.Pipe A can fill a tank in 6hrs.due to leak at bottom it takes 9 hours to fill the tank.In what time
the leak alone can empty the full tank?
1.16 2.15 3.18 4.17

Ans : 18 hours

18.In how many seconds does a 180m long train moving at 108kmph cross a platform of length
150 mtr?
1.11 sec 2.9sec 3.8sec 4.7sec

Ans :distance=180+150=330 mtr

speed=108*5/18=30 m/s
=330/30 = 11 sec

19.What is the total surface area of the hemisphere,whose radius is 10.5cm?

1.1049.5 2.1039.5 3.999.5 4.1085.5
20.5 persons are sitting in a round table in such a way that the tallest person always sits next to
the smallest person?
Ans : Keep tallest and smallest person as 1
we have (4-1)! = 6
the tallest and the smallest person can be interchanged = 2
= 12

Aptitude Questions on Time and Distance : Time and Distance Aptitude Questions : Time
and Distance Problems

1. A person crosses a 600 m long street in 5 minutes. What is his speed in km per hour?
A. 3.6 B. 7.2
C. 8.4 D. 10

2.A person covers a certain distance at 7kmph .How many meters does he cover in 2 minutes.
Ans : speed=72kmph=72*5/18 = 20m/s
distance covered in 2min =20*2*60 = 2400m

3.If a man runs at 3m/s. How many km does he run in 1hr 40min
Ans : speed of the man = 3*18/5 kmph = 54/5kmph
Distance covered in 5/3 hrs=54/5*5/3 = 18km

4.If a person walks at 14 km/hr instead of 10 km/hr, he would have walked 20 km more. The
actual distance travelled by him?
A. 50 km B.56 km
C.70 km D.80 km

5.Vikas can cover a distance in 1hr 24min by covering 2/3 of the distance at 4 kmph and the rest
at 5kmph.the total distance is?
Ans : diistance=2/3S
distance=1-2/3S=1/3S
21/15 hr=2/3 S/4 + 1/3s /5
84=14/3S*3
S= 6km

6.Excluding stoppages, the speed of a bus is 54 kmph and including stoppages, it is 45 kmph. For
how many minutes does the bus stop per hour?
A.9 B.10
C.12 D. 20

7.Two boys starting from the same place walk at a rate of 5kmph and 5.5kmph respectively.wht
time will they take to be
8.5km apart, if they walk in the same direction
Ans : Time= 8.5km / 0.5 kmph = 17 hrs

8.In covering distance,the speed of A & B are in the ratio of 3:4.A takes 30min more than B to
reach the destion.The time taken by A to reach the destinstion is.
Ans : Ratio of speed = 3:4
Ratio of time = 4:3
let A takes 4x hrs,B takes 3x hrs
then 4x-3x = 30/60 hr
x = ½ hr
4x = 4 * ½ = 2 hr

9.A man complete a journey in 10 hours. He travels first half of the journey at the rate of 21
km/hr and second half at the rate of 24 km/hr. Find the total journey in km.
A. 220 km B.224 km
C.230 km D.234 km

10.A car covers 4 successive 3km stretches at speed of 10kmph,20kmph,30kmph&:60kmph resp.

Its average speed is.
Ans : total distance = 4 * 3 = 12 km
total time = 3/10 + 3/20 + 3/30 + 3/60 = 36/60 hr
speed =12/36 * 60 = 20 kmph

11.A person walks at 5kmph for 6hr and at 4kmph for 12hr.The average speed is.
Ans : avg speed = total distance/total time
= 5*6 + 4*12 / 18
=4 1/3 mph

12.A farmer travelled a distance of 61 km in 9 hours. He travelled partly on foot @ 4 km/hr and
partly on bicycle @ 9 km/hr. The distance travelled on foot is:
A. 14 km B.15 km
C.16 km D.17 km

13.A thief steals a ca r at 2.30pm and drives it at 60kmph the theft is discovered at 3pm and the
owner sets off in another car
at 75kmph when will he overtake the thief :
Ans : Let the thief is overtaken x hrs after 2.30pm
distance covered by the thief in x hrs = distance covered by
the owner in x-1/2 hr
60x = 75 ( x- ½)
x= 5/2 hr
thief is overtaken at 2.30 pm + 2 ½ hr = 5 pm

14. The ratio between the speeds of two trains is 7 : 8. If the second train runs 400 kms in 4
hours, then the speed of the first train is:
A. 70 km/hr B.75 km/hr C. 84 km/hr D. 87.5 km/hr

15. A train can travel 50% faster than a car. Both start from point A at the same time and reach
point B 75 kms away from A at the same time. On the way, however, the train lost about 12.5
minutes while stopping at the stations. The speed of the car is:
A. 100 kmph B. 110 kmph C. 120 kmph D. 130 kmph