With respect to a loop in the transportation table, which one of the following…
2017
With respect to a loop in the transportation table, which one of the following is not correct ?
- A.
Every loop has an odd no. of cells and atleast 5.
- B.
Closed loops may or may not be square in shape.
- C.
All the cells in the loop that have a plus or minus sign, except the starting cell, must be occupied cells.
- D.
Every loop has an even no. of cells and atleast four.
Attempted by 10 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A
Answer: The statement "Every loop has an odd no. of cells and atleast 5." is not correct.
Reason:
A loop is a closed path that alternately moves horizontally and vertically through cells, assigning alternating plus and minus signs to consecutive cells along the path.
Because signs alternate, the number of cells in a loop must be even; an odd count would break the alternation when the path closes.
The smallest possible closed loop uses four cells (for example a 2×2 rectangle), so the minimum is four, not five.
Therefore the correct statement is: every loop has an even number of cells and at least four.
Summary: the incorrect option claims odd and at least five, whereas loops must be even and at least four.