Decoding a Celestial Code Language

This question asks us to translate a sentence from a specific code language based on given substitution rules. We are given how certain celestial bodies are represented in this code. Let's break down the rules first.

The coding rules are:

• Sun is written as Earth
• Earth is written as Mercury
• Mercury is written as Venus
• Mars is written as Sun
• Venus is written as Mars

We can summarize these code language rules in a table for clarity:

We need to translate the sentence: "Venus lies between Mercury and Earth".

Let's translate each key word in the sentence using the rules:

• The first word is "Venus". According to the rules, Venus is written as Mars.
• The phrase "lies between" is not mentioned in the rules. We assume it remains unchanged in the code language.
• The next word is "Mercury". According to the rules, Mercury is written as Venus.
• The connecting word "and" is also not in the rules and remains unchanged.
• The last word is "Earth". According to the rules, Earth is written as Mercury.

Putting the translated words back into the sentence structure:

• "Venus" becomes "Mars"
• "lies between" remains "lies between"
• "Mercury" becomes "Venus"
• "and" remains "and"
• "Earth" becomes "Mercury"

So, the sentence "Venus lies between Mercury and Earth" becomes "Mars lies between Venus and Mercury" in this code language.

Now let's look at the given options to find the translated sentence:

1. Mars lies between Earth and Sun
2. Mars lies between Venus and Mercury
3. Mercury lies between Earth and Sun
4. Mercury lies between Venus and Mars

Our translated sentence, "Mars lies between Venus and Mercury", matches option 2.

Revision Table: Code Language Mapping

Here is a quick summary of the celestial body substitutions in the given code language:

Additional Information: Simple Substitution Ciphers

The type of code language used in this problem is a simple form of a substitution cipher. In a substitution cipher, each letter, symbol, or word in the original message is replaced with a different letter, symbol, or word according to a fixed rule or key.

• In this case, the substitution key applies to specific words (the names of celestial bodies).
• Other words in the sentence ("lies between", "and") are not part of the key and are therefore not substituted.
• Solving such problems involves carefully identifying the words to be substituted and applying the given rules consistently.
• This is a basic concept often found in reasoning and coding-decoding questions.