📚 Ranking Problems Basics
Key Concepts
- Position from Left/Right: Total = (Left Position + Right Position) – 1
- Position from Top/Bottom: Total = (Top Position + Bottom Position) – 1
- Interchanging Positions: When two people swap, their new positions reveal total count
- Between Two Persons: Total = (Position of A from left + Position of B from right) + Persons between them
- Middle Person: If same from both ends → Total = 2n – 1
💡 Pro Tip: Always draw quick diagrams for visualization. Use arrows for left/right positions and mark positions clearly.
🧩 Practice Problems (1-15)
1. I am sixth in the queue starting from either end. How many are there in the queue?
Solution: If you’re 6th from either end, total = (6 + 6) – 1 = 11
Formula: Total = (Position from left + Position from right) – 1
2. Rehan ranks seventh from the top and twenty-sixth from the bottom in a class. How many students are there in the class?
Solution: Total students = (7 + 26) – 1 = 32
Breakdown: 6 students above Rehan + Rehan + 25 students below = 32
3. Mazhar is fourteenth from the right end in a row of 40 boys. What is his position from the left end?
Solution: Position from left = Total – Position from right + 1 = 40 – 14 + 1 = 27
Alternative: Boys to left of Mazhar = 40 – 14 = 26, so he’s 27th from left
11. In a row of boys, Javed is seventh from the start and eleventh from the end. In another row of boys, Waqas is tenth from the start and twelfth from the end. How many boys are there in both the rows together?
Solution: Row 1: (7 + 11) – 1 = 17 boys
Row 2: (10 + 12) – 1 = 21 boys
Total = 17 + 21 = 38 boys