Question Details

Study the following information carefully and answer the questions given below.
Six boxes – P, Q, R, S, T and U – are stacked one above the other. Each box contains a different item: Pens, Clocks, Bottles, Radios, Cups and Paints.
All the information is not necessarily in the same order.
The box which contains clocks is placed three boxes below Box T. More than two boxes are placed between Box T and Box Q. The box which is placed two boxes above Box Q contains bottles. The number of boxes above the box which contains bottles is same as the number of boxes placed below Box R. Box P and Box S are placed adjacent to each other. Box S doesn’t contain bottles and pens. Box Q and Box U doesn’t contain Radios. The box which contains radios is placed immediately above the box which contains cups. Box Q doesn’t contain paints. The box which contains paints is not placed below the box which contains Cups.


Which among the following boxes is placed four boxes above Box S and what item does that box S contains respectively?

Options

A

Box T, Radios

B

Box T, Cups

C

Box U, Paints

D

Box U, Clocks

E

Box U, Cups

Show Answer

Correct Answer :

Option D

Box U, Clocks

Solution :

To determine which box is placed four boxes above Box S and what item Box S contains, let us systematically analyze the given clues and reconstruct the stack of six boxes from top to bottom (positions 6 down to 1).

Let the positions be numbered 6 (topmost) to 1 (bottommost).

Clue 1: The box which contains clocks is placed three boxes below Box T.
This means if Box T is at position x, the box containing clocks is at position x - 3. Therefore, Box T can be at position 6, 5, or 4, and the clocks box will be at 3, 2, or 1 respectively.

Clue 2: More than two boxes are placed between Box T and Box Q.
Since there are 6 boxes, if Box T is at position 6, Box Q must be at position 3, 2, or 1 (at least 3 boxes between means positions 5, 4, 3 are between, so Q is at position 2 or 1). Let's test the possibilities:
- If Box T is at position 6: Clocks are at position 3. Since there must be more than 2 boxes (i.e., at least 3 boxes) between T and Q, Box Q must be at position 2 or 1.
- If Box T is at position 5: Clocks are at position 2. Box Q must be at position 1 (only 3 boxes between: 4, 3, 2).
- If Box T is at position 4: Clocks are at position 1. Box Q cannot be placed with more than 2 boxes between since Q would have to be above 4 or below 4, and there isn't enough space. Thus, Box T can only be at position 6 or 5.

Clue 3: The box which is placed two boxes above Box Q contains bottles.
This means if Box Q is at position y, the bottle box is at position y + 2.
- Case 1: If Box T = 6, Clocks = 3. Let's look at Box Q:
- If Q is at position 2: Bottles must be at position 4. The number of boxes above bottles (position 4) is 2 (positions 5 and 6). Therefore, the number of boxes below Box R must also be 2, placing Box R at position 3. But position 3 is already occupied by clocks, which doesn't conflict yet as R could contain clocks.
- If Q is at position 1: Bottles must be at position 3. The number of boxes above bottles (position 3) is 3. The number of boxes below Box R must also be 3, placing Box R at position 4. This is a valid configuration.
- Case 2: If Box T = 5, Clocks = 2. Box Q must be at position 1. Bottles must be at position 3. The number of boxes above bottles (position 3) is 3, so Box R must be at position 4 (with 3 boxes below it: 3, 2, 1). This is also a valid configuration.

Let us analyze the positions of Box P and Box S, which are placed adjacent to each other (P and S at positions z and z ± 1). We also know Box S does not contain bottles or pens.

Let's test Case 1a: Box T = 6, Box Q = 2, Bottles = 4, Clocks = 3 (R = 3, so R contains Clocks).
The remaining positions for boxes are 5, 1. But Box P and Box S must be adjacent. In this case, the empty box positions are 5 and 1, which are not adjacent. Thus, this case is invalid.

Let's test Case 1b: Box T = 6, Box Q = 1, Bottles = 3, Box R = 4.
The positions filled so far are:
6: Box T
5: (Empty)
4: Box R
3: Bottles (Box ?)
2: Clocks (Box ?)
1: Box Q
The remaining boxes to place are P, S, U. Since P and S must be adjacent, they must occupy positions 5 and 6, or 3 and 2, or 2 and 1, etc., if those positions are free. Here, the adjacent free positions are 3 and 2 (since R=4, T=6, Q=1). Thus, Box P and Box S must occupy positions 3 and 2 in some order, leaving position 5 for Box U. Let's write this down:
6: Box T
5: Box U
4: Box R
3: Box P/S (Bottles)
2: Box S/P (Clocks)
1: Box Q
Since Box S doesn’t contain bottles, Box S cannot be at position 3. Thus, Box S must be at position 2 (Clocks) and Box P must be at position 3 (Bottles). This satisfies all conditions so far:
6: Box T
5: Box U
4: Box R
3: Box P (Bottles)
2: Box S (Clocks)
1: Box Q

Let us verify the items for each box under this configuration:
- We have the following item distribution:
6: Box T - ?
5: Box U - ?
4: Box R - ?
3: Box P - Bottles
2: Box S - Clocks
1: Box Q - ?
- The remaining items are: Pens, Radios, Cups, and Paints.
- Clue: Box Q and Box U do not contain Radios. Since only Box T, Box R, and Box Q/U can contain radios, and Q and U cannot, the radio must be in either Box T (6) or Box R (4).
- Clue: The box which contains radios is placed immediately above the box which contains cups. This means Radios must be directly above Cups (Radios at k, Cups at k - 1).
- If Radios is at 6 (Box T), Cups must be at 5 (Box U).
- If Radios is at 4 (Box R), Cups must be at 3 (Box P). But Box P already contains bottles. Thus, Radios cannot be at position 4. Hence, Radios must be at position 6 (Box T) and Cups must be at position 5 (Box U).
- Now the item configuration is:
6: Box T - Radios
5: Box U - Cups
4: Box R - ?
3: Box P - Bottles
2: Box S - Clocks (Box S does not contain pens, which is satisfied since it contains clocks)
1: Box Q - ?
- The remaining items to distribute are Paints and Pens for positions 4 (Box R) and 1 (Box Q).
- Clue: Box Q doesn’t contain paints. Therefore, Box Q (1) must contain Pens, and Box R (4) must contain Paints.
- Clue: The box which contains paints (Box R at 4) is not placed below the box which contains Cups (Box U at 5). Here, Box R (4) is below Box U (5), which violates the clue: "The box which contains paints is not placed below the box which contains Cups." Thus, Case 1b is invalid.

Let's test Case 2: Box T = 5, Clocks = 2, Box Q = 1, Bottles = 3, Box R = 4.
The positions filled so far are:
6: (Empty)
5: Box T
4: Box R
3: Bottles (Box ?)
2: Clocks (Box ?)
1: Box Q
The remaining boxes are P, S, U. Since P and S must be adjacent, the only adjacent free positions are 3 and 2. Therefore, Box P and Box S must occupy positions 3 and 2. Since Box S doesn't contain bottles, Box S must be at position 2 (Clocks) and Box P must be at position 3 (Bottles). The remaining position 6 is occupied by Box U.
Let's look at the arrangement:
6: Box U - ?
5: Box T - ?
4: Box R - ?
3: Box P - Bottles
2: Box S - Clocks
1: Box Q - ?
The remaining items are: Pens, Radios, Cups, Paints.
- Clue: Box Q (1) and Box U (6) do not contain Radios. Thus, Radios must be in Box T (5) or Box R (4).
- Clue: The box containing radios is placed immediately above the box containing cups.
- If Radios is at position 5 (Box T), Cups must be at position 4 (Box R). This is possible.
- If Radios is at position 4 (Box R), Cups must be at position 3 (Box P). But Box P already contains bottles. So this is not possible.
Therefore, Radios must be at position 5 (Box T) and Cups must be at position 4 (Box R).
- The arrangement becomes:
6: Box U - ?
5: Box T - Radios
4: Box R - Cups
3: Box P - Bottles
2: Box S - Clocks
1: Box Q - ?
- The remaining items are Paints and Pens to be distributed between Box U (6) and Box Q (1).
- Clue: Box Q doesn’t contain paints. Thus, Box Q (1) contains Pens, and Box U (6) contains Paints.
- Let's check the clue: "The box which contains paints is not placed below the box which contains Cups." Paints is in Box U (6) and Cups is in Box R (4). Since 6 is above 4, Paints is indeed not placed below Cups. This matches all criteria perfectly.

The final arrangement from top to bottom is:
6. Box U - Paints
5. Box T - Radios
4. Box R - Cups
3. Box P - Bottles
2. Box S - Clocks
1. Box Q - Pens

Now, let's answer the question:
1. Which box is placed four boxes above Box S (position 2)?
Four boxes above position 2 is position 2 + 4 = 6, which is Box U.
2. What item does Box S contain?
Box S contains Clocks.

Therefore, the corresponding box is Box U and the item S contains is Clocks, giving the pair Box U, Clocks.

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