Improve Reasoning: 3 Types of Seating Arrangement Problems

Seating arrangement is one of the easiest topics in reasoning. You will find 3 common types of problems with examples. Read through the tutorial carefully.
Let us begin our tutorial.

Type I: Single Row Type

This type is a simple one. The members in question will be sitting in a row. Certain conditions will be given in the question. You have to apply these conditions one by one to find the final arrangement and answer.

Below is an example.

Example Question 1: Jack, Vino, Mary, Rani, Mala, Sunil and Kishore are sitting in a row facing North direction.
Vino is sitting between Jack and Mary. Rani is second right to Jack, and she is not at the right end. Mala is at the leftmost end and Kishore is the neighbour of Jack and Rani. Find who is sitting at the extreme right end?
a) Rani b) Vino c) Sunil d) Mala
Answer: c) Sunil

Solution:
Vino is between Jack and Mary. The arrangement will be
Jack – Vino – Mary
Rani is at the second right to Jack,
Rani – x – Jack – Vino – Mary
Mala is at the leftmost end
Rani – x – Jack – Vino – Mary – Mala
Kishore is the neighbour of Jack and Rani, so he should be placed between them.
Rani – Kishore – Jack – Vino – Mary – Mala

The remaining person is Sunil, and there is no any condition about him. He should be at the extreme right end since Mala is at the leftmost end.
Sunil – Rani – Kishore – Jack – Vino – Mary – Mala.
Hence, Sunil is at the right extreme.

Type II: Multiple Row Type

This type is similar to type 1 but with a slight difference. In this type, you will find more than one row (usually two rows). Below example will help you to understand this type better.

Example Question 2: Eight members Prabhu, Queeny, Ravi, Selvi, Tamil, Valli, Hari and Leo are sitting in two rows with an equal number of members in each row. Members of one row are facing east, and those in the other row are facing west. Each member in one row is sitting exactly opposite a member in the other row.
Prabhu sits in the row facing east, to the immediate right of Hari, who is exactly opposite to Ravi. Leo is to the immediate right of Ravi; Selvi is exactly opposite to Tamil, who is to the immediate right to Prabhu. Valli does not sit at any of the ends of any row.

1. Which of the following pair sits at the ends of the same row?
a) Prabhu, Selvi and Hari, Ravi b) Tamil, Selvi and Queeny, Leo
c) Hari, Valli and Queeny, Leo d) Tamil, Leo and Prabhu, Valli
Answer: b) Tamil, Selvi and Queeny, Leo

Solution:
Let us start our diagram based on the conditions given.
Prabhu sits in the row facing east to the immediate right of Hari, who is exactly oppostite to Ravi.

Leo is to the immediate right of Ravi.

Selvi is exactly opposite to Tamil, who is to the immediate right to Prabhu.

Valli does not sit at any of the ends of any row. Hence, Valli should be in the middle of Selvi and Ravi.

Hence, the final arrangement will be as shown below.

From the diagram, the pairs at the extreme ends are Tamil, Selvi and Queeny and Leo.
Note: In this type, there can be more than one question based on the final arrangement you got. Below are two such simple questions.

2. Who sits opposite to Valli?
a) Hari b) Tamil c) Leo d) Prabhu
Answer: Based on our final diagram, the answer is d) Prabhu

3. Who sits immediate right to Hari?
a) Queeny b) Prabhu c) Selvi d) Valli
Answer: Here the answer is obviously a) Queeny

Type III: Circular Arrangement

Unlike the first 2 types, here the members will be sitting in a circular arrangement. Here is an example question for you.

Example Question 3: Six friends are playing cards at a round table facing the center. Kabil is sitting to the right of Dinesh. Mani is sitting between Bobby and Nisha. Ram is sitting between Kabil and Bobby. Who is sitting to the left of Ram?
a) Bobby b) Mani c) Nisha d) Kabil
Answer: d) Kabil

Solution:
To start our diagram, first, let us mark Dinesh’s position. (You can start with any member, but final answer will be the same.)

Now, Kabil is sitting right to Dinesh.