If each letter of the English alphabet is assigned an odd numerical value in increasing order, such as A = 1, B = 3 and so on then what will be the code of HONEY?

Question

Prepp Team · Accepted Answer

Let's break down this alphabet coding problem step by step to find the code for the word HONEY based on the given rule.

Understanding the English Alphabet Coding Rule

The problem states that each letter of the English alphabet is assigned an odd numerical value in increasing order, starting with A = 1, B = 3, and so on. This establishes a specific pattern between the position of a letter in the standard alphabet and its assigned numerical value.

Let's list the first few letters and their assigned values:

A is the 1st letter, assigned value 1.
B is the 2nd letter, assigned value 3.
C is the 3rd letter, assigned value 5.
D is the 4th letter, assigned value 7.

We can observe a pattern here. The assigned value is always an odd number. If we consider the position of a letter in the standard alphabet (where A=1, B=2, C=3, ...), let's call this position \(n\). The assigned value seems to follow the formula for the \(n\)-th odd number, which is \(2n - 1\).

Let's verify this formula with the given examples:

For A (position \(n=1\)): Value = \(2 \times 1 - 1 = 2 - 1 = 1\). This matches.
For B (position \(n=2\)): Value = \(2 \times 2 - 1 = 4 - 1 = 3\). This matches.
For C (position \(n=3\)): Value = \(2 \times 3 - 1 = 6 - 1 = 5\). This matches.

So, the rule is indeed: Value = \(2 \times (\text{Alphabet Position}) - 1\).

Finding the Code for HONEY

Now we need to find the code for the word HONEY by applying this rule to each letter in the word. First, let's find the position of each letter in the standard English alphabet:

H is the 8th letter.
O is the 15th letter.
N is the 14th letter.
E is the 5th letter.
Y is the 25th letter.

Next, we apply the formula \(2n - 1\) to find the assigned odd value for each letter:

For H (position \(n=8\)): Value = \(2 \times 8 - 1 = 16 - 1 = 15\).
For O (position \(n=15\)): Value = \(2 \times 15 - 1 = 30 - 1 = 29\).
For N (position \(n=14\)): Value = \(2 \times 14 - 1 = 28 - 1 = 27\).
For E (position \(n=5\)): Value = \(2 \times 5 - 1 = 10 - 1 = 9\).
For Y (position \(n=25\)): Value = \(2 \times 25 - 1 = 50 - 1 = 49\).

We can summarize this in a table:

Letter	Alphabet Position (\(n\))	Assigned Odd Value (\(2n - 1\))
H	8	\(2 \times 8 - 1 = 15\)
O	15	\(2 \times 15 - 1 = 29\)
N	14	\(2 \times 14 - 1 = 27\)
E	5	\(2 \times 5 - 1 = 9\)
Y	25	\(2 \times 25 - 1 = 49\)

To get the code for HONEY, we concatenate the assigned values in order:

Code for HONEY = Value of H | Value of O | Value of N | Value of E | Value of Y

Code for HONEY = 15 | 29 | 27 | 9 | 49

Code for HONEY = 152927949

Comparing with Options

Let's compare our calculated code with the given options:

Option 1: 132725747
Option 2: 152927947
Option 3: 152927949
Option 4: 132725745

Our calculated code, 152927949, matches Option 3.

Conclusion

By understanding the pattern of assigning odd numerical values based on the letter's position in the alphabet and applying the formula \(2n - 1\), we successfully derived the code for HONEY.

Revision Table: Key Concepts

Concept	Description	Formula/Rule
Alphabet Position	The sequential number of a letter in the English alphabet (A=1, B=2, ...).	\(n\)
Odd Numbers	Numbers not divisible by 2 (1, 3, 5, 7, ...).	\(2k-1\) for \(k=1, 2, 3, ...\)
Coding Rule	Each letter's value is its alphabet position mapped to the corresponding odd number.	Value = \(2n - 1\)
Concatenation	Joining the individual letter codes to form the word code.	H code \| O code \| N code \| E code \| Y code

Additional Information: Number Series in Coding

Coding and decoding problems often involve assigning numerical values based on sequences or series. Common series include:

Alphabet Position: A=1, B=2, ..., Z=26.
Reverse Alphabet Position: A=26, B=25, ..., Z=1.
Odd Numbers: 1, 3, 5, 7, ... (as used in this problem).
Even Numbers: 2, 4, 6, 8, ...
Prime Numbers: 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, ...
Square Numbers: \(1^2=1\), \(2^2=4\), \(3^2=9\), ...
Cube Numbers: \(1^3=1\), \(2^3=8\), \(3^3=27\), ...

Identifying the specific number series or pattern is crucial for solving such coding questions. Practice with different patterns helps in quickly recognizing the underlying logic during exams.