in a row of boys, if a who is 10th from the left and b who is 9th from the right interchange their positions, a becomes 15th from the left. how many boys are there in the row ?
There are 23 boys in the row.
Step-by-step explanation
Let’s decode the situation slowly:
- A is 10th from the left initially.
- B is 9th from the right initially.
- They interchange positions.
- After interchange, A becomes 15th from the left.
When A and B swap, A goes to B’s original position.
So A’s new position from the left (15th) is actually B’s original position
from the left.
Now we know B’s position from:
- Left: 15th
- Right: 9th
For any person in a row:
Total number of boys=position from left+position from right−1\text{Total number of boys}=\text{position from left}+\text{position from right}-1Total number of boys=position from left+position from right−1
So:
Total boys=15+9−1=23\text{Total boys}=15+9-1=23Total boys=15+9−1=23
Thus, the row has 23 boys.
Mini intuition story
Imagine a line of boys where you mark one boy’s spot from both ends:
- You count 15 steps from the left to reach him.
- You count 9 steps from the right to reach that same boy.
If you add both counts (15 + 9), you’ve counted that boy twice , once from each side. So you subtract 1 to fix the double-count, giving you the total number of boys: 23.
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