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the place number of a vowel?

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the place number of a vowel?

by sanju09 » Tue Nov 12, 2013 12:29 am
In the English alphabets, AB is swapped to BA, and so is done with every next two letters in the English alphabets. Reading from left this rearrangement, which of the following is NOT the place number of a vowel?
A. 22
B. 16
C. 10
D. 8
E. 6


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by theCodeToGMAT » Tue Nov 12, 2013 12:59 am
Scanning answer choices we see that [spoiler]{D} & {E} [/spoiler]are only 2 digit apart..

a, b, c, d, e, f, g..

e = 5 becomes "6"
"7" digit should become "8".... but "7" digit is "g", which is not vowel.

Answer [spoiler]{D}[/spoiler]
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by Mathsbuddy » Tue Nov 12, 2013 5:48 am
theCodeToGMAT wrote:Scanning answer choices we see that [spoiler]{D} & {E} [/spoiler]are only 2 digit apart..

a, b, c, d, e, f, g..

e = 5 becomes "6"
"7" digit should become "8".... but "7" digit is "g", which is not vowel.

Answer [spoiler]{D}[/spoiler]
If we re-read the question to mean ...in "the English alphabets" as opposed to in "abcdefg....xyz"
we get:

Pre change: theEnglishalphabets (ignoring spaces, for example)
After change: theEnglishalphbates
The non-vowels (consonents)are now positioned: 2, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 19
So answers C and D would both be correct.
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by theCodeToGMAT » Tue Nov 12, 2013 6:05 am
I am afraid "Mathsbuddy" I couldn't catch what you wanted to say.

By the way, according to me [spoiler]{D}[/spoiler] looks good.. Sanjeev generally posts tricky ones.. so Let's not assume my answer is 100% correct until he confirms :)

As per my understanding, the question means:
Original Pattern: AB CD EF GH IJ KL MN OP QR RS UV WX YZ

Changed Pattern: BA DC FE HG JI LK NM PO RQ SR VU XW ZY

Now, we are asked to read from "left"

So, now lets consider the position of "vowels" (a,e,i,o,u)

In Original Pattern: 1, 5, 9, 15, 21

In Changed Pattern: 2, 6, 10, 16, 22

So, [spoiler]{D}[/spoiler] = 8 is not the position
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by Mathsbuddy » Tue Nov 12, 2013 6:10 am
theCodeToGMAT wrote:Scanning answer choices we see that [spoiler]{D} & {E} [/spoiler]are only 2 digit apart..

a, b, c, d, e, f, g..

e = 5 becomes "6"
"7" digit should become "8".... but "7" digit is "g", which is not vowel.

Answer [spoiler]{D}[/spoiler]
If we re-read the question to mean ...in "the English alphabets" as opposed to in "abcdefg....xyz"
we get:

Pre change: theEnglishalphabets (ignoring spaces, for example)
After change: theEnglishalphbates
The non-vowels (consonents)are now positioned: 2, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 19
So answers C and D would both be correct.

A (witty?) observation is that if you do the same with "alphabet", it changes to "alphbates", giving answer D to match the first solution!
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by sanju09 » Wed Nov 13, 2013 4:12 am
Mathsbuddy wrote:
theCodeToGMAT wrote:Scanning answer choices we see that [spoiler]{D} & {E} [/spoiler]are only 2 digit apart..

a, b, c, d, e, f, g..

e = 5 becomes "6"
"7" digit should become "8".... but "7" digit is "g", which is not vowel.

Answer [spoiler]{D}[/spoiler]
If we re-read the question to mean ...in "the English alphabets" as opposed to in "abcdefg....xyz"
we get:

Pre change: theEnglishalphabets (ignoring spaces, for example)
After change: theEnglishalphbates
The non-vowels (consonents)are now positioned: 2, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 19
So answers C and D would both be correct.

A (witty?) observation is that if you do the same with "alphabet", it changes to "alphbates", giving answer D to match the first solution!
Hi Mathsbuddy,

I tried to leave no confusion while designing this question. Had the case been what you anticipated, the wordings would have been unequivocally "The letters in the phrase 'the English alphabets' blah blah blah". But, here with the English alphabets, we mean what it really is, and no bad trick is played here. [spoiler]Rahul's approach and answer both are correct.[/spoiler]

Best
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