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CAT Number Series Questions

You can find all the Top 77+ CAT Number Series questions from the previous papers with detailed video explanations on this page. The CAT Number Series plays a crucial role in CAT quantitative section. There are many tricks, shortcuts and formulas that help you to solve the questions quickly. One can find those solving tips in the video solutions explained by CAT experts and IIM Alumni. Click on the link below to download all the number system questions from CAT previous papers PDF.  Keep practising free CAT mocks where you'll get a fair idea of how questions are asked, and type of questions asked.

The fundas of Number Series are important for other areas of CAT exam syllabusTo ace these kind of questions, aspirant must learn different approaches and practice. In such scenarios, getting a guidance from a CAT online coaching institute will help you in learning time saving approaches and strategies.

Weightage of Number Series Question (Past 3 Years)

The below table provides the past 3 year weightage of Number Series questions in the CAT exam: 

Year

No. of Questions
20255
20245
20237
20225

CAT Number Series Formulas

1. A.G.P. Properties Formula

Arithmetic Geometric Series

A series will be an arithmetic-geometric series if each of its terms is formed by the product of the corresponding terms of an A.P and G.P.

The general form of A.G.P series is a, (a+d)r, (a+2d)$$r^{2}$$,......

Sum of ‘n’ terms of A.G.P series

    $$S_{n}$$=$$\frac{a}{1-r}$$+rd$$\frac{(1-r^{n-1})}{1-r}$$+rn$$\frac{[a+(n-1)d]}{1-r}$$(r≠1)

    Sum of infinite terms of A.G.P series

      $$S_{∞}$$=$$\frac{a}{1-r}+\frac{dr}{(1-r)^{2}}$$(|r|<1)

      2. G.P. - Formulas and Properties

      Geometric Progression

      If in a succession of numbers the ratio of any term and the previous term is constant then that numbers are said to be in Geometric Progression.

      Ex :1, 3, 9, 27 or a, ar, a$$r^{2}$$, a$$r^{3}$$

      The general expression of a G.P, Tn = a $$r^{n-1}$$ (where a is the first term and ‘r’ is the common ratio).

      Sum of ‘n’ terms in G.P, Sn = $$\frac{a(1-r^{n})}{1-r}$$ (if r<1) or $$\frac {a(r^{n}-1)}{r-1}$$ (if r>1)

        Properties of G.P

        If a, b , c, d,.... are in G.P and ‘k’ is a constant then

        1. ak, bk, ck,...will also be in G.P
        2. a/k, b/k, c/k will also be in G.P

        Sum of term of infinite series in G.P, $$S_{∞}$$=$$\frac {a}{1-r}$$ (-1 < r <1)

        3. A.P. - Formulas and Properties

        Arithmetic progression (A.P)

        If the sum of the difference between any two consecutive terms is constant then the terms are said to be in A.P

        Example: 2,5,8,11 or a, a+d, a+2d, a+3d...

        If 'a' is the first term and 'd' is a common difference then the general 'n' term is $$T_{n}$$=a+(n-1)d

        Sum of first 'n' terms in A.P=$$\frac{n}{2}$$[2a+(n-1)d]

        Number of terms in A.P=$$\frac{Last Term-First Term}{Common Difference}$$+1

        Properties of Arithmetic progression

        If a, b, c, d,.... are in A.P and ‘k’ is a constant then

        a-k, b-k, c-k,... will also be in A.P

        ak, bk, ck,...will also be in A.P

        a/k, b/k, c/k will also be in A.P

          4. Harmonic Mean Formula

          Harmonic Mean

          If a, b, c, d...are the given numbers in H.P then the Harmonic mean of 'n' terms=$$\frac{Number of terms}{\frac{1}{a}+\frac{1}{a}+\frac{1}{a}+....}$$

          If two numbers a and b are in H.P then the Harmonic mean= $$\frac{2ab}{a+b}$$

          CAT Number Series Questions

          Question 1

          The average number of copies of a book sold per day by a shopkeeper is 60 in the initial seven days and 63 in the initial eight days, after the book launch. On the ninth day, she sells 11 copies less than the eighth day, and the average number of copies sold per day from second day to ninth day becomes 66. The number of copies sold on the first day of the book launch is

          Video Solution
          Question 2

          In an arithmetic progression, if the sum of fourth, seventh and tenth terms is 99, and the sum of the first fourteen terms is 497, then the sum of first five terms is

          Video Solution
          Question 3

          For any natural number k , let $$a_{k}=3^{k}$$. The smallest natural number m for which $$\left\{(a_{1})^{1}\times(a_{2})^{2}\times...\times(a_{20})^{20}\right\}<\left\{a_{21}\times a_{22}\times...\times a_{20+m}\right\}$$, is

          Video Solution
          Question 4

          In the set of consecutive odd numbers $$\left\{1,3,5,...,57\right\}$$, there is a number $$k$$ such that the sum of all the elements less than $$k$$ is equal to the sum of all the elements greater than $$k$$ . Then, $$k$$ equals

          Video Solution
          Question 5

          Let $$a_{n}$$ be the $$n^{th}$$ term of a decreasing infinite geometric progression. If $$a_{1}+a_{2}+a_{3}=52$$ and $$a_{1}a_{2}+a_{2}a_{3}+a_{3}a_{1}=624$$, then the sum of this geometric progression is

          Video Solution

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