If M is faster than J, then the fastest ranking J could have is

Ravi March 4, 2019

@Steph,

Happy to help.

Have you tried accessing the video explanation through the Prep Test
that this game is part of through the 'Prep Tests' section of the app?
I went to Prep Test 49 and was able to open up the video that way.

For any other technical issues, feel free to direct any support
related issues to our support staff by tapping "support" from the left
menu or by calling 855.483.7862 ext. 2 Monday-Friday 9am-6pm PT.

In the meantime, I'm happy to provide a written explanation for this question.

The question states, "If M is faster than J, then the fastest ranking
J could have is..."

We know there are eight game pieces (F, G, H, J, K, L, M, and O) and
that there aren't ties. We also know that F or G is first.

F/G _ _ _ _ _ _ _

We're told that M isn't the slowest

1) M not in 8

H is faster than J, with exactly one chip intermediate in speed between them.

H_J

K is faster than L, with exactly two chips intermediate in speed between them

K_ _ L

O is slower than both J and L

J-O and L-O

Now that we've got all of the rules down, let's see what inferences we
can make. Which pieces can go in between H and J? Can M, G, or F go in
this slot? Actually, none of them can.

Why? Well, if we put M, G, or F in between H and J, this would mean
that the H_J box and the K_ _ L box would not overlap. However, we
don't have enough room on our board to make this happen because
collectively, those two boxes take up 7 slots and we know that O has
to come after both of them, so that's 8 slots. Additionally, we know
that F or G has to come first before both the H_J and K_ _ L boxes, so
that would require a board with at least 9 slots. We only have 7
slots, so this means that the H_J and K_ _ L boxes can't be separate
from one another and must be interlocked.

The K_ _ L box has two spaces between it, and the H_J box has three
pieces total, so it can't fit within the K_ _ L box. This means that
there are two possibilities for how we can interlock these two boxes.

The first is that we can wrap the H_ J box around K, and the second is
that we can wrap the H_J box around L

HKJ_L - O

K_HLJ - O

This really limits our possibilities for this game.

We know that F/G must go first. This means the only game pieces that
can go in the boxes in either scenario are either the G/F piece that
didn't go first or M (which we know can't go 8th).

We know that M is faster than J for this question, and we're looking
to see the fastest ranking J could have in this scenario.

Our two large boxes are

HKJ_L - O

K_HLJ - O

The second of these scenarios has J way later than the first, so that
means that off the bat we know we must be dealing with the first box
since we're trying to find out the fastest ranking J could go

If we put M before J, we know that we also have to put F or G first,
so we'd have

F/G M HKJ_LO

In this scenario, J is 5th, and this is the fastest ranking J could
have if M is faster than J.

In case you don't see how the second scenario can't be eliminated off
the bat, let's look at it and see how fast J can be ranked

K_HLJ - O

If we put M before J, we know that we also have to put F or G first,
so we'd have

F/G M K_HLJO

In this scenario, J is 7th. This scenario is out.

The earliest J can go is 5th, so (D) is our correct answer.

Does this make sense? Let us know if you have any more questions!

izyat April 1, 2020

I am still confused how J can be in 5th place because that would mean H has to go in 3rd, leave the K space space L box to go K in 4th and L has to be 7th which is impossible.

jacklyn-henry October 31, 2020

Why can it be
1. F/G
2. H
3.M
4.J
5.K
6. F/G
7. O
8. L

making the earliest place 4th

jacklyn-henry October 31, 2020

Nevermind, I forgot O had to be slower than L