Five friends P, Q, R, S and T are sitting around a circular table facing the…
2024
Five friends P, Q, R, S and T are sitting around a circular table facing the centre of the table. S is sitting to the immediate right of P. T is sitting to the immediate left of Q. P is between S and R. Who is sitting at the second place to the left of T?
- A.
S
- B.
Q
- C.
R
- D.
P
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D
Concept: When everyone sits facing the centre of a round table, the directions flip relative to an overhead (bird's-eye) view: moving in the clockwise direction takes you to each person's LEFT-hand neighbour, while moving anticlockwise takes you to their RIGHT-hand neighbour. Equivalently, the immediate right of a person X is the seat that comes just before X in clockwise order, and the immediate left of X is the seat that comes just after X in clockwise order.
Application: Placing each clue using this rule, step by step:
S is the immediate right of P, so in clockwise order S comes just before P: S, P.
P is between S and R, and S already sits on P's right side, so R must be on P's left, i.e. the seat right after P clockwise: S, P, R.
T is the immediate left of Q, so in clockwise order T comes just after Q: Q, T.
Joining the two chains around the 5-seat circle (only one way keeps both internal orders intact) gives the complete clockwise order: S, P, R, Q, T, and back to S.
Starting from T and stepping in the left (clockwise) direction: the first place to the left of T is S, and the second place to the left of T is P.
Cross-check: Testing the order S, P, R, Q, T against every original clue confirms it: P's right-hand (anticlockwise) neighbour is S; Q's left-hand (clockwise) neighbour is T; and P sits between S and R. All three conditions hold, confirming the arrangement, so P is sitting at the second place to the left of T.