Understanding Letter Analogies in Reasoning

Letter analogy questions test your ability to find the relationship between two sets of letters or words and apply that same relationship to a new set. In this question, we need to figure out how 'PHYSICS' is related to 'KSBHRXH' and then use that same rule to find the word related to 'CHEMISTRY'.

Analyzing the Pattern: PHYSICS to KSBHRXH

Let's look at the letters in 'PHYSICS' and their corresponding letters in 'KSBHRXH' and try to find a pattern based on their positions in the English alphabet (A=1, B=2, ..., Z=26).

From the analysis, we can see a clear pattern:

• The first letter is shifted 5 positions backward in the alphabet (\(\text{P} \rightarrow \text{K}\)). If the shift goes before 'A', it wraps around from 'Z'. (e.g., \(\text{C}(3) - 5 = -2\). Starting from \(\text{Z}(26)\), go back 2: \(\text{Z} \rightarrow \text{Y} \rightarrow \text{X}\). So, \(\text{C} \rightarrow \text{X}\)).
• All subsequent letters (from the second letter onwards) are replaced by their opposite letters in the alphabet. Opposite letters are pairs whose positional values add up to 27 (e.g., \(\text{A}=1\), \(\text{Z}=26\); \(1+26=27\). \(\text{B}=2\), \(\text{Y}=25\); \(2+25=27\), etc.).

Applying the Pattern to CHEMISTRY

Now, let's apply this discovered pattern to the word 'CHEMISTRY'. 'CHEMISTRY' has 9 letters.

Following the pattern, 'CHEMISTRY' is transformed into 'XSVNRHGIB'.

Comparing with Options

Let's compare our resulting sequence 'XSVNRHGIB' with the given options:

• Option 1: XSVNRHGIB
• Option 2: XSVNSHGIB
• Option 3: XSUNRIGIB
• Option 4: XSVMSITRC

Our derived sequence exactly matches Option 1.

Conclusion

The pattern involves a specific shift for the first letter and finding the opposite letter for all subsequent letters. Applying this pattern to 'CHEMISTRY' gives us 'XSVNRHGIB'.

Revision Table: Key Concepts in Letter Coding

Additional Information: Types of Letter Reasoning

Letter reasoning, often found in competitive exams, can involve various types of patterns. Understanding these can help solve problems faster:

• Coding-Decoding: Letters/words are coded according to a specific rule, and you need to decode or apply the rule to a new word. This question is an example.
• Letter Series: A sequence of letters follows a specific pattern (e.g., alphabetical order shifts, skipping letters). You need to find the next term.
• Letter Classification: Four letter groups are given, and three follow a similar pattern, while one does not. You need to identify the odd one out.
• Jumbled Letters: Letters are scrambled, and you need to rearrange them to form meaningful words.

Practicing different types helps in quickly recognizing the underlying logic.