Question

How many pairs of letters are there in the word, ‘EXPERIENCED’ which have as many letters between them as in the word as in the alphabetical order?
(a) one
(b) three
(c) four
(d) more than four

Answer 1

Hint:
Here, we need to find the number of pairs of letters in the word, ‘EXPERIENCED’ which have as many letters between them as in the word as in the alphabetical order. This means that the pair of letters must be such that the number of letters between them in the word ‘EXPERIENCED’, is the same as the number of letters between them if written in alphabetical order. We will list the pairs one by one and count the number of such pairs.

Complete step by step solution:
We need to find the number of pairs of letters in the word, ‘EXPERIENCED’ which have as many letters between them as in the word as in the alphabetical order.
This means that the pair of letters must be such that the number of letters between them in the word ‘EXPERIENCED’, is the same as the number of letters between them if written in alphabetical order.
For example, in the word ‘CHECKERS’, only 1 letter, H, comes between C and E. When written in alphabetical order, the only letter between C and E is D. Therefore, the number of letters between C and E is 1 both in alphabetical order, and in the word ‘CHECKERS’. Hence, C and E are 1 such pair of letters.
Now, we will find such pairs of letters in the word ‘EXPERIENCED’.
First pair: The letters P and R in ‘EXPERIENCED’.
In alphabetical order, there is only 1 letter between P and R, that is Q.
In the word ‘EXPERIENCED’, there is only 1 letter between P and R, that is E.
Second pair: The letters D and E in ‘EXPERIENCED’.
In alphabetical order, there are 0 letters between D and E.
In the word ‘EXPERIENCED’, there are 0 letters between D and E.
Third pair: The letters E and I in ‘EXPERIENCED’.
In alphabetical order, there are 3 letters between E and I, that is F, G, H.
In the word ‘EXPERIENCED’, there are 3 letters between E and I, that is E, N, C.
Fourth pair: The letters C and E in ‘EXPERIENCED’.
In alphabetical order, there is only 1 letter between C and E, that is D.
In the word ‘EXPERIENCED’, there is only 1 letter between C and E, that is N.
Fifth pair: The letters D and E in ‘EXPERIENCED’.
In alphabetical order, there are 4 letters between D and I, that is E, F, G, H.
In the word ‘EXPERIENCED’, there are 4 letters between D and I, that is E, N, C, E.
Thus, there are 5 such pairs of letters.

Therefore, the correct option is option (d).

Note:
Here, we need to remember that it does not matter if the letters are in alphabetical order or not. For example, we can see that in the word ‘EXPERIENCED’, E comes before C. We marked this as the fourth pair. However, in alphabetical order, C comes before E. The order does not matter because we are concerned with only the number of letters between them.