Facing outwards — Seating & Puzzles Aptitude Question
Facing outwards: Five people sit around a circular table facing outwards. If A is to the immediate left of B, then… Answer and worked solution on CodeKairo.
- Topic: Seating & Puzzles
- Section: Logical Reasoning
- Difficulty: Medium
- Time target: 90 seconds
Question
Five people sit around a circular table facing outwards. If A is to the immediate left of B, then from A's point of view, in which direction is B?
Options
- Immediate left
- Immediate right
- Opposite
- Cannot be determined
Show the answer and the worked solution
Correct answer: B. Immediate right
Worked solution
- A is immediately to the left of B: standing where B stands, A is the neighbour on the left hand.
- Turn the relation round: from where A stands, B is the neighbour on the right hand.
- The direction the group faces does not change this reversal; it only decides whether 'left' runs clockwise or anticlockwise round the table.
Answer: Immediate right.
The idea
Reversing a left-right relation always swaps the side. Facing outwards changes which way round the table 'left' runs, not the reversal itself.
Shortcut. Swap the side when you swap the viewer: 'A is on B's left' is the same fact as 'B is on A's right'. Facing outwards only decides which way round the table 'left' runs, so it changes nothing here.
Common trap. "Immediate left" — copying the stated side across without reversing it; the question moves the viewpoint from B to A, and a left-right relation always flips when it is read from the other person.