Dictionary Order Word Arrangement Solution

Understanding the Problem

The question asks us to arrange a given list of English words based on the order they would appear in a standard English dictionary. This is also known as alphabetical order or lexicographical order.

List of Words

The words provided are:

1. Despite
2. Destroy
3. Departure
4. Derivatives
5. Detention

Step-by-Step Alphabetical Sorting

To determine the correct dictionary order, we compare the words letter by letter from the beginning.

Step 1: Compare the First Letter

All the words begin with the letter 'D'. Since they are all the same, we move to the second letter.

Step 2: Compare the Second Letter

The second letter of all words is 'e'. We proceed to the third letter.

Step 3: Compare the Third Letter

Let's look at the third letter of each word:

• Departure: 'p'
• Despite: 's'
• Destroy: 's'
• Derivatives: 'r'
• Detention: 't'

Comparing these third letters ('p', 's', 'r', 't'), the alphabetical order is 'p', 'r', 's', 't'.

• 'p' (Departure) comes first.
• 'r' (Derivatives) comes second.
• 's' (Despite, Destroy) come next.
• 't' (Detention) comes last.

So, the partial order is: Departure, Derivatives, [Despite, Destroy], Detention.

Step 4: Compare Words with the Same Third Letter

We need to determine the order between 'Despite' and 'Destroy', as both have 's' as the third letter.

• Despite: Starts with 'Desp...'
• Destroy: Starts with 'Dest...'

Comparing the fourth letters, 'p' in 'Despite' comes before 't' in 'Destroy'.

Therefore, 'Despite' comes before 'Destroy'.

Step 5: Final Arrangement

Combining the results from the previous steps, the final alphabetical order is:

1. Departure (from Step 3)
2. Derivatives (from Step 3)
3. Despite (from Step 4)
4. Destroy (from Step 4)
5. Detention (from Step 3)

Representing this order using the original numbering:

• 3. Departure
• 4. Derivatives
• 1. Despite
• 2. Destroy
• 5. Detention

The correct arrangement is 3, 4, 1, 2, 5.