Understanding Dictionary Order

To arrange words in the order they appear in an English dictionary, we need to compare them letter by letter from left to right. The word with the letter that comes first alphabetically at the first point of difference will appear earlier in the dictionary.

Step-by-Step Word Comparison

Let's look at the given words and their corresponding numbers:

• 1. Magnification
• 2. Magnitude
• 3. Magnet
• 4. Maid
• 5. Magic

Now, let's compare the words alphabetically:

1. First letter: All words start with 'M'. No difference yet.
2. Second letter: All words have 'a' as the second letter. Still no difference.
3. Third letter:
   • Magnification (Mag...)
   • Magnitude (Mag...)
   • Magnet (Mag...)
   • Maid (Mai...)
   • Magic (Mag...)
   The third letter is 'g' for Magnification, Magnitude, Magnet, and Magic, and 'i' for Maid. Since 'g' comes before 'i' in the alphabet, the words starting with 'Mag' will come before 'Maid'. So, 'Maid' (4) will be the last word among these five.
4. Comparing the 'Mag' words (1, 2, 3, 5): Magnification, Magnitude, Magnet, Magic.
   • Fourth letter: Magnification (Magn...), Magnitude (Magn...), Magnet (Magn...), Magic (Magi...). The fourth letter is 'n' for 1, 2, 3 and 'i' for 5. Since 'i' comes before 'n', 'Magic' (5) comes first among the 'Mag' words.
5. Comparing the remaining 'Magn' words (1, 2, 3): Magnification, Magnitude, Magnet.
   • Fifth letter: Magnification (Magni...), Magnitude (Magni...), Magnet (Magne...). The fifth letter is 'i' for 1 and 2, and 'e' for 3. Since 'e' comes before 'i', 'Magnet' (3) comes next after 'Magic'.
6. Comparing the remaining 'Magni' words (1, 2): Magnification, Magnitude.
   • Sixth letter: Magnification (Magnif...), Magnitude (Magnit...). The sixth letter is 'f' for 1 and 't' for 2. Since 'f' comes before 't', 'Magnification' (1) comes next after 'Magnet'.
7. The last remaining word is: Magnitude (2).
8. Finally, as determined earlier: Maid (4) comes last.

Based on this letter-by-letter comparison, the correct order of the words in an English dictionary is:

• Magic (5)
• Magnet (3)
• Magnification (1)
• Magnitude (2)
• Maid (4)

The sequence of numbers representing this order is 5, 3, 1, 2, 4.