Seating Arrangement

What is Seating Arrangement?

Seating Arrangement is a process of making a group of people sits as per a prefixed manner. These questions are based on a set of information including a certain set of conditions. Information of the arrangement of the people in a row or around the circle will be given, and candidates need to arrange people in the row or circle or square according to the given condition.

Types of Seating Arrangement:

Linear Seating Arrangement
Circular Seating Arrangement
Polygonal Arrangement
Concentric Arrangement

Linear Seating Arrangement

In this type of linear seating arrangement reasoning, candidates are required to arrange people in a row or multiple rows according to the given conditions. Candidates need to identify the exact position of the objects and their positions with respect to one another based on the information given.

Single Row Unidirectional: In this type of linear seating arrangement, people will be arranged in a single row and everyone will face in the same direction.
Single Row Bidirectional: In this type of linear seating arrangement, people will be arranged in a single row and they will face in two different directions.
Dual Row: In this type of linear seating arrangement, people will be arranged in 2 different rows.

Circular Seating Arrangement

In this type of circular seating arrangement reasoning, people will be seated around a circular table.

Circular Unidirectional: In this type of circular seating arrangement, candidates are required to arrange people around a circular table, and everyone will face in the same direction such as either inside or outside.
Circular Bidirectional: In this type of circular seating arrangement, candidates are required to arrange people around a circular table, and everyone will face in the same direction such as either inside or outside.

Polygonal Arrangement

A polygon is a closed figure formed with three or more sides. In this type of seating arrangement reasoning, people will be seated around different shapes of table such as triangle, square, rectangle, pentagonal, hexagonal, octagonal, etc.

Square Arrangement: In this type of polygonal arrangement, candidates are required to arrange people around a square table.
Triangular Arrangement: In this type of polygonal arrangement, candidates are required to arrange people around a triangular table. The objects or persons placed around a triangular plane that may be a table or any triangular object.

Concentric Arrangement

In this type of seating arrangement reasoning, 1 circular or or polygonal shaped table will be placed inside the other circular or polygonal shaped people. and a student needs to arrange people around these to table according to the given information.

How to Solve Question Based on Seating Arrangement

Candidates can find various tips and tricks from below for solving the questions related to the Seating Arrangement reasoning section.

Tip #1: A triangle has 3 corners and three sides, so three persons can sit at these corners and they are facing either the center or the direction opposite to the center.

Tip # 2: If A is three people away from B is given then 3-12 people will sit between them.

Tip # 3: Candidates need to keep the following points in mind while solving the seating arrangement based questions.

When A is second to the left of B: A-B
When A is second to right of B: B – A
When A is 2 places away from B: A/B B/A
When A is two places to the right of B or B is two places to the left of A: B – A
When there are 2 people between A and B: A -B

Seating Arrangement Reasoning Sample Questions

Question 1:

Direction: Study the following information and answer the given questions.

Pawan, Qaseem, Rajan, Suresh, Tariq, Uzma, Waseem, and Zainab are sitting in a line facing north. Zainab sits third to the left of Suresh. Zainab sits at the extreme end of the row. Only one person sat between Suresh and Qaseem. Only two people sit between Qaseem and Waseem, who is an immediate neighbor of Pawan. Uzma sits third to the left of Rajan. Who is an immediate neighbor of Tariq?

Solution:

People: Pawan, Qaseem, Rajan, Suresh, Tariq, Uzma, Waseem, and Zainab.

Zainab sits third to the left of Suresh.
Zainab sits at the extreme end of the row.
Only one person sat between Suresh and Qaseem.
Only two people sit between Qaseem and Waseem, who is an immediate neighbor of Pawan.
Uzma sits third to the left of Rajan

Hence, Qaseem and Rajan is an immediate neighbor of Tariq.

Question 2:

Directions: Eight persons A, B, C, D, E, F, G and H are sitting in a line and an equal number of persons are facing north and south direction. Not more than two consecutive adjacent persons face in the same direction. Persons at extreme ends face in the same direction.

A sits third to the right of D, who sits immediate right of H. H faces north direction. Two people sit between A and E. D does not sit at the extreme end. B sits immediate right of C and both face south direction. B and A are not adjacent to each other. G does not face south.

If row-1 people sit in alphabetical order starting from the left end then who will face S?

Solution:

D is facing the person who is sitting 2nd to the right of the person who faces C.
B is sitting to the left of D.
P is sitting 2nd to the right of S.
Neither P nor S sit at any of the extreme ends of the row.
R sits second to the left of T.
T sits at one of the extreme ends but doesn’t face C.
E is not an immediate neighbor of D.

Using statement 7, Case 1.B will be eliminated.

A sits to the left of E.

D will face S if persons of Row 1 are arranged according to alphabetical order. So the correct answer is D.

Question 3:

Direction: Study the following information carefully and answer the questions based on it.

Eight friends Divya, Dev, Piyush, Shiv, Nisha, Geeta, Bhavna, Govinda are sitting around the circular table but not necessarily in the same order and are facing towards the center of the table.

Nisha is third to the left of Bhavna. Dev and Piyush are neighbors. Divya is sitting opposite to Geeta. Shiv is an immediate neighbor of Bhavna. There are two people sitting between Nisha and Geeta. Dev and Govinda are sitting opposite to each other.

Who is sitting immediate to the right of Nisha?

Solution:

Persons: Divya, Dev, Piyush, Shiv, Nisha, Geeta, Bhavna, Govinda

Shiv is an immediate neighbor of Bhavna.
Nisha is third to the left of Bhavna.
There are two people sitting between Nisha and Geeta.
Divya is sitting opposite to Geeta.
Dev and Piyush are neighbors.
Dev and Govinda are sitting opposite to each other.

Case 1 cannot satisfy the above conditions. Hence, Case 1 gets eliminated. Hence, Piyush is the correct answer.

Question 4:

Direction: Study the following information carefully and answer the question given below.

Eight friends are sitting around a rectangular table either in the middle side or at the corner. Four of them like fruits, apples, mangoes, Grapes, and bananas, and four of them like vegetables, tomatoes, potatoes, Broccoli, and cucumbers. The person who likes vegetables sits at the corner faces inside and the person who likes fruits sits in the middle faces outside.

Only two friends sit between the one who likes Mango and the one who likes Broccoli. The one who likes Grapes sits second to the right of the one who likes Mango. Only one person sits between the one who likes Tomato and the one who likes Potato. The one who likes Apple is an immediate neighbor of the one who likes Potato. Friends who like Banana and Broccoli do not sit together.

Who sits opposite to the one who likes Broccoli?

Solution:

According to the question:

Only two friends sit between the one who likes Mango and the one who likes Broccoli.
The one who likes Grapes sits second to the right of the one who likes Mango.
Friends who like Banana and Broccoli do not sit together. (This eliminates case 1)
The one who likes Apple is the immediate neighbor of the one who likes Potato.
Only one person sits between the one who likes Tomato and the one who likes Potato.

Hence, the one who likes Tomato sits opposite to the one who likes Broccoli.

Question 5:

Directions: Read the information carefully and answer the following questions.

Six people Nayana, Arpita, Amulya, Deepa, Veena, Swara are sitting around a triangular shaped table such that four are facing inside the table and only two are facing outside the table but not necessarily in the same order. Three people are sitting at the corner and three people are sitting on the edges of the table.

Deepa and Amulya are sitting to the right of each other. Nayana who is sitting at the corner is sitting second to the left of Amulya. Veena is facing inside the table and Sitting to the immediate right of Nayana. Swara and Arpita are facing in the same direction but are not sitting together.

How many people are sitting between Deepa and Veena when counted clockwise from Deepa?

Solution:

Nayana who is sitting at the corner is sitting second to the left of Amulya.
Veena is facing inside the table and Sitting to the immediate right of Nayana.

Nayana is sitting second to the left of Amulya.

Deepa and Amulya are sitting to the right of each other.
Swara and Arpita are facing in the same direction but are not sitting together.

Seating Arrangement Questions and Answers

Directions (Q1 – Q5): Read the information given below and answer the following questions:

A total of 10 people, 5 men and 5 women are sitting in two parallel lines, facing each other. Five men, namely, Ajit, Bharat, Chirag, Dharam and Ejaz are facing to the south and the five women, Meenal, Neelu, Octavia, Preeti and Arpita are facing towards the north.

Bharat, who is just next to the left of Dharam, is opposite to Arpita.
Chirag and Neelu are diagonally opposite to each other.
Ejaz is opposite Octavia who is just next to Meenal.
Preeti, who is just to the left of Arpita, is opposite to Dharam.
Meenal is at one end of the line

Q 1. Which two people are sitting at the two extreme ends of the line?

A. Ejaz, Bharat

B. Ajit, Chirag

C. Chirag, Dharam

D. Dharam, Bharat

E. None of the Above

Answer: (B) Ajit, Chirag

Q 2. Who is sitting right in front of Dharam?

A. Neelu

B. Meenal

C. Octavia

D. Preeti

E. Arpita

Answer: (C) Preeti

Q 3. Who sits exactly in between Meenal and Neelu?

A. Preeti

B. Octavia

C. Arpita

D. Ejaz

E. Cannot Be Determined

Answer: (E) Cannot Be Determined

Q 4. Who sits opposite to Octavia?

A. Chirag

B. Ejaz

C. Dharam

D. Bharat

E. Ajit

Answer: (B) Ejaz

Q 5. Who is sitting at the right corner of the women’s line?

A. Meenal

B. Octavia

C. Arpita

D. Preeti

E. Neelu

Answer: (5) Neelu

Directions (Q6 – Q10): Read the data given below and based on it answer the following questions:

Six girls, Pooja, Qimat, Reeti, Shweta, Tejaswini and Vineeta are sitting around a circular table.

All of them are facing towards the centre of the circle.
Tejaswini is not sitting between Qimat and Shweta but someone else from the group
Pooja sits to the left of Vineeta
Reeti is fourth to the right of Pooja.

Q 6. Who sits second to right of Vineets?

A. Reeti

B. Pooja

C. Shweta

D. Qimat

E. Either option ‘3’ or ‘4’

Answer: (E) Either option ‘3’ or ‘4’

Q 7. Who is sitting opposite Reeti?

A. Shweta

B. Vineeta

C. Pooja

D. Tejaswini

E. Qimat

Answer: (B) Vineeta

Q 8. Who sits second to the right of Pooja?

A. Vineeta

B. Shweta

C. Reeti

D. Tejaswini

E. Qimat

Answer: (D) Tejaswini

Q 9. Who sits exactly between Shweta and Qimat?

A. Tejaswini

B. Vineeta

C. Pooja

D. Reeti

E. None of the Above

Answer: (D) Reeti

Q 10. Who sits second to the left of Pooja?

A. Reeti

B. Vineeta

C. Shweta

D. Pooja

E. Tejaswini

Answer: (A) Reeti

Seating Arrangement

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