Eight persons A, B, C, D, E, F, G, and H live on different floors of an eight-floor building, numbered 1 to 8 from bottom to top. One person lives on each floor but not necessarily in the given order.
G lives five floors above C. As many floors are there below C’s floor as above B’s floor. Three floors are there between the floors of B and D. F lives two floors away D. E does not live above H. A doesn’t live on prime numbered floor.
If all the persons live in alphabetical order from the topmost floor to the bottom-most floor, then the floors of how many persons remain unchanged?
Correct Answer :
None
Solution :
Let's solve the floor puzzle step-by-step to find the correct floor arrangement of the eight persons (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, and H) living on floors numbered 1 to 8 (from bottom to top).
Step 1: Analyze the clues for C and G
Clue: "G lives five floors above C."
This means . Since the building has 8 floors, the possible pairs for (C, G) are:
- Case 1:
- Case 2:
- Case 3:
Step 2: Analyze the clue for B
Clue: "As many floors are there below C’s floor as above B’s floor."
Let's test this for each case:
- For Case 1 (): there are 0 floors below C. Thus, there must be 0 floors above B, which means . This is a valid configuration: .
- For Case 2 (): there is 1 floor below C. Thus, there must be 1 floor above B, which means . However, G is already on floor 7, causing a conflict. So, Case 2 is invalid.
- For Case 3 (): there are 2 floors below C. Thus, there must be 2 floors above B, which means . This is a valid configuration: .
Step 3: Analyze the remaining clues for Case 1 ()
- Clue: "Three floors are there between the floors of B and D."
With , D must be on floor 4 (since floors 7, 6, and 5 are between them).
- Clue: "F lives two floors away D."
With , F can be on floor 2 or floor 6. Since G is on floor 6, F must be on floor 2 ().
- Now, the remaining vacant floors are 7, 5, and 3.
- Clue: "A doesn’t live on prime numbered floor."
However, the remaining floors (7, 5, and 3) are all prime numbers. Thus, A would be forced to live on a prime-numbered floor, which violates the clue. Therefore, Case 1 is invalid.
Step 4: Analyze the remaining clues for Case 3 ()
- Clue: "Three floors are there between the floors of B and D."
With , D must be on floor 2 (since floors 5, 4, and 3 are between them).
- Clue: "F lives two floors away D."
With , F must be on floor 4 ().
- The occupied floors so far are: G (8), B (6), F (4), C (3), D (2).
- The remaining vacant floors are 7, 5, and 1.
- Clue: "A doesn’t live on prime numbered floor."
Among the vacant floors (7, 5, 1), 7 and 5 are prime numbers, while 1 is not. Thus, A must live on floor 1 ().
- Clue: "E does not live above H." (i.e., E lives on a lower floor than H).
The remaining floors are 7 and 5. Therefore, E must be on floor 5 and H must be on floor 7 ().
Final Floor Arrangement:
- Floor 8: G
- Floor 7: H
- Floor 6: B
- Floor 5: E
- Floor 4: F
- Floor 3: C
- Floor 2: D
- Floor 1: A
Step 5: Alphabetical comparison from top to bottom
If all persons are arranged in alphabetical order (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H) from the topmost floor (8) to the bottom-most floor (1):
- Floor 8: G (changes to A)
- Floor 7: H (changes to B)
- Floor 6: B (changes to C)
- Floor 5: E (changes to D)
- Floor 4: F (changes to E)
- Floor 3: C (changes to F)
- Floor 2: D (changes to G)
- Floor 1: A (changes to H)
Comparing the two arrangements, the floors of None of the persons remain unchanged.
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