Third to the left — Seating & Puzzles Aptitude Question
Third to the left: Eight people sit evenly around a circular table facing the centre. Answer and worked solution on CodeKairo.
- Topic: Seating & Puzzles
- Section: Logical Reasoning
- Difficulty: Medium
- Time target: 90 seconds
Question
Eight people sit evenly around a circular table facing the centre. If P is third to the left of Q, how many people sit between them going clockwise from Q to P?
Options
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
Show the answer and the worked solution
Correct answer: A. 2
Worked solution
- Facing the centre, moving left means moving clockwise.
- P is three seats clockwise from Q.
- Between them, going clockwise, there are 3 − 1 = 2 people.
Answer: 2.
The idea
'Third to the left' counts the destination seat itself, so the people strictly between are one fewer.
Shortcut. Label Q as 0: seats 1 and 2 clockwise lie between, and P sits at 3. The other way round there are 4, and 2 + 4 = the 6 people besides P and Q.
Common trap. "3" — counting P's own seat among those between; 'third to the left' includes the destination seat.