UNIT -3

CHAPTER 5
CODING DECODING and DIRECTION
CONTENT AS PER IBPS LEVEL

INTRODUCTION

Coding - Decoding is a system of letters, digits and signs used for identification purposes. Codes are
used for transmitting messages to the receiver without any third person knowing it. After transmission,
receiver decode the coded massage and found the relevant information.

HISTORICAL IMPORTANCE

Coding – Decoding is a very popular subject and also known as Cryptography. In old days secrete
messages were encrypted by kings, secrete agencies and spies into a coded language. Coding –
Decoding also has its historic importance. It was used by Julius Caesar, Chanakya, Samudragupta and
many others to hide secret information from spies and enemies.

Caesar Cipher
Julius Caesar had been developed a unique technique named Caesar Cipher to hide important
information into secret message. He was very cleaver. He always send his information by the hand of
two Messengers, one was carried himself a Coded Message and another was carried the Logic or
Pattern of the code.
Important Coded
A Logic Or Pattern
Information Message to
applied on given Information
By Sender Receiver

Caesar Cipher:- Julius Caesar was able to develop a new Logic for every new secret information. That
process was known as Caesar Cipher. Suppose, if he had to send a secret information to his army
containing the word ATTACK then, he was coded it with the help of following two steps :-

First Step:- He must made a cipher with the help of Logic or Pattern.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y
Z

494
W X Y Z A B C T U V D E F G P Q R S H I J M N O K
L

A coded as W, B coded as X, C coded as Y.......................................and Z coded as L.

Second Step- Now on the basis of above logic or pattern ATTACK coded as:-

A T T A C K

W I I W Y D

So the ATTACK is coded as WIIWYD.

Now, WIIWYD is a Coded Message.

We can also understand Julius Caesar’s communication process to share secrete information with his
army to the following diagrams:-

King 1st Messenger Army

(Sender) (Coded Message:-WIIWYD) (Receiver)

King 2nd Messenger Army

(Sender) ( Logic:- A B C.... (Receiver)
W X Y.... ) (Code + Logic)
So, according to above discussion we can say that coding – decoding has great historical importance.

Now we can say,

The coding and decoding questions are set to judge the candidate's ability to perceive the principles and
pattern on which a word or message is codified and to decipher it. Such questions are becoming
increasingly popular in the different examinations. They call for careful observation concentration, and
analytical aptitude.

495
 TYPES OF CODING DECODING

As for as our reasoning purpose is concern, we will learn following type of coding – decoding
patterns:-

1. ALPHABET TO ALPHABET CODING – DECODING

According to above category, alphabet letters are used to codify other alphabet letters.

Example:- 1 If letters of the word MONKEY are coded as NPOLFZ, then find out the code for word
TIGER ?

Solution:- Here, we are observing a very simple pattern, M is coded as N, O is coded as P and so on.
Next letter is the code of previous one. So the code of word TIGER is UJHFS.

Example:- 2 If letters of the word MONKEY are coded as XDJMNL, then find out the code for word
TIGERS ?

Solution:- Word MONKEY is Coded as,

M O N K E Y

X D J M N L

So the code for word TIGERS is RQDFHS.

Example:- 3 If CALENDAR = DKZBOEBS, then NEELAM = ?

Solution:- This type is just a bit different from the previous type.
Word CALENDAR is coded as,
C A L E N D A R

D K Z B O E B S

According to above logic, word NEELAM is coded as DDMMBN.

Example:- 4 If EVITCDNIV = HZNZJLWSG, then ABDICTION = ?

Solution:- In this question, firstly + 2, then + 3, +4, +5, +6,+7 and so on. Similarly when the code for
the word ABDICTION is made firstly+2, then +3, +4, +5, + 6 and so on. The code will finally become

496
 DFIOJBNYY.

Example:- 5 If PERSON = THTWRP, then ENGINE = ?

Solution:- Here P + 4 = T, E + 3 = H, R + 2 = T, Then S + 4 =W, O + 3 = R, N + 2 = R. The method
for coding is +4, +3, +2. The code for ENGINE will become E + 4 = I, N + 3 = Q, G + 2 = I, I + 4 = M,
N + 3= Q and E +2 = G. Therefore the code is IQIMQG.

Example:- 6 If SILVER = HROEVI, then MEENAKSHI = ?

Solution:- In this case, if the letter is at ‘nth’ position from the beginning then the letter at ‘nth’
position from the end is written. This can always be checked, whenever the sum of the number and its
respective code is 27. Then the method applied for the coding would be this only. As in SILVER, S is
19 and its code H is 8 and the sum is 27. I is 9 and its code R is 18 and sum is 27. While coding
MEENAKSHI, the same method coding will be applied. M is 13, so what should be added in 13 to
make it 27 ( that is14), write the 14th letter which is N as the code for M. Similarly E is 5, find
22nd letter to make sum as 27 ( V is 22ndletter) and that is the code and so on. The code for the word
MEENAKSHI will be NVVMZPSR.

2. ALPHABET TO NUMBER CODING – DECODING

In this category letters are coded in numbers or vice versa.

Example:- 7 If RELATION = 95312965, then MANAGEMENT = ?

Solution:- In this case, the code for every letter is its position in the alphabetic order, represented as a
single digit. If its position is already a single number, then it is simply assigned as the code, and if there
are two digits in its position, then those digits are added to get the code for that letter. In this case R is
the 18th letter so its code would be 1 + 8 = 9, E is the 5th letter so its code is 5, L is the 12th letter so its
code is 1 + 2 = 3, A is 1 and so on. Similarly when the code for the word MANAGEMENT is made.
M is 13, 1 + 3 = 4. A= 1, N is 14 1 + 4 = 5, A = 1, G = 7 and so on. The final code for the word
MANAGEMENT would be 4151754552.

Example:- 8 If SHIVANI = 574, then GANESH = ?

Solution:- In this case, EJOTY of all the words has been added, multiplied by the number of letters in
that word. SHIVANI => S = 19, H = 8, I = 9, V = 22, A = 1, N = 14, I = 9 => 19 + 8 + 9 + 22 + 1 + 14
+ 9 = 82 × 7 ( .: there are 7 letters in the word SHIVANI), Similarly while making code for
GANESH => 7 + 1+ 14 + 5 + 19 + 8 = 54 × 6 ( .: there are six letters) = 324 would be the code.

Example:- 9 If ACTIVITY = 24315137, Then ELEPHANT = ?

Solution:- It involves the position of alphabet in the alphabetic order + 1. If it becomes a single digit
number, write it and if it is a two digit number then add it to get a single digit number as in question no.
13. Similarly ELEPHANT => E = 5 + 1 = 6, L = 12 +1 = 13 => 1 + 3 = 4, E = 5 + 1 =6, P = 16 + 1 =
17 => 1 + 7 = 8 and so on. The code will become 64689263.

Example:- 10 The questions given below are based upon the following set of codes.
Digit : 1 0 6 4 2 9 8 7 5
Code : M O X L S T N H P
A) Find the code for 24750.

497
 B) Find the code for 814005.

Solution:-Now here in this case, it can be verified that the code for the 2 is S, 4 is L, 7 is H, 5 is P and
0 is O. Therefore the code in the first case would become SLHPO and in the second case the code
would be NMLOOP.

3. LANGUAGE CODING – DECODING

In this type of questions, sentences of a given language are coded in to different language. We need to
find out the meaning of required word into another language.

Example:- 11 In a certain code. ‘sim ma kom’ means ‘bring me water’. ‘ma mo mok’ means ‘water
is life’. ‘jka od sim’ means ‘give me toy’ and ‘mo min not’ means ‘life and death’. Which of the
following is representing ‘is’ in that language ?

Solution:- Here in such questions by combining two groups, the code for one particular word can be
decided. In the first two coded sentences, the only code common is ‘ma’ and the only word common is
‘water’. This implies that ‘ma’ is the code for ‘water’. Similarly in the second and fourth coded
sentences the only code common is ‘mo’ and the only word common is ‘life’. This implies that the
code for the word ‘life’ is ‘ma’. After this in the second coded sentence the only code remaining is
‘mok’ and the only word remaining is ‘is’, So the code for the word ‘is’ is ‘mok’.

Example:- 12 In a certain code language, ‘it pit sit’ means ‘I am boy’, ‘it nit sit’ means ‘I am girl’,
which of the following means ‘girl’?

Solution:- We have,
It pit sit I am boy
It nit sit I am girl
Here, ‘It sit’ is common in both the messages and ‘I am’ is common in both codes. Hence, code for
girl will be ‘nit’.

Example:- 13 In a certain code language,

(i) ‘786’ means ‘study very hard’
(ii) ‘958’ means ‘hard work pays’ and
(iii) ‘645’ means ‘study and work’.
Which of the following is the code for ‘very’ ?

Solution:- In the first and second statements, the common code digit is ‘8’ and the common word is
‘hard’. So, ‘8’ means ‘hard’. In the first and third statements, the common code digit is ‘6’ and the
common word is ‘study’. So, ‘6’ means ‘study’.
From equation (i) and (ii), 8 hard
From equation (i) and (iii), 6 study

498
 Hence very 7

SUBSTITUTION CODING – DECODING

In this section, some particular words are assigned certain substituted names. Now,

questions are formed based on that principles.

Example:- 14 If ‘white’ is called ‘blue’, ‘blue’ is called ‘red’, ‘red’ is called ‘yellow’, ‘yellow’
is called ‘green’, ‘green’ is called ‘black’, ‘black’ is called ‘violet’ and ‘violet’ is called ‘orange’,
then what would be the colour of human blood ?

Solution:- We know the colour of the human blood is ‘red’ and given that ‘red’ is called ‘yellow’. So,
the colour of human blood is ‘yellow’.

Example:- 15 If ‘Parrot’ is known as ‘Peacock’, ‘Peacock’ is known as ‘Swallow’, ‘Swallow’ is

known as ‘Pigeon’ and ‘Pigeon’ is known as ‘Sparrow’, then what would be the name of Indian
National Bird?

Solution:- We know Peacock is the Indian National Bird. But here Peacock is known as Swallow. So
the answer is Swallow.

Example:- 16 On another planet, the local terminology for ‘earth’, ‘water’, ‘light’, ‘air’ and ‘sky’ are
‘sky’, ‘light’, ‘air’, ‘water’ and ‘earth’, respectively. If someone is thirsty there, what would he
drink?
Solution:- The person would drink water, but water is called light. Hence he would drink light there

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

499
14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20. MATRIX CODING – DECODING

MATRIX Concept

In this type of questions, two matrices of letters and numbers are given in which each letters can be
represented by a set of two numbers. The first number (from left) indicates the row number while the
second number indicates the column number. You are required to identify the code for the given word
or a group of letters on the basis of two matrices given.

Now consider the following examples which were asked in the previous exams:

Direction(17-19):- In the following questions given below are two matrices of twenty five cells each
containing two classes of letters from the alphabet. The columns and rows of matrix 1 are numbered
from 0 to 4 and that of matrix 2 from 5 to 9. A letter from these matrices can be represented first by its
row number and next by its column number. For example, R can be represented by 02, 31. In each of
the following questions identify one set of number pairs out of (1), (2), (3), d)which represents the
given word:

MATRIX – I

0 1 2 3 4

0 E S R U N

1 R N S E U

2 U E N R S

3 S R U N E

4 N U E S R

MATRIX - II

500
 5 6 7 8 9

5 W O P T I

6 T I O W P

7 I W I P T

8 O P T O W

9 P T W I O

Example:-17 What is the code for PENT ?

a)87, 21, 31, 66 b)95, 33, 40, 78 c)57, 02, 34, 87 d)78, 42, 11, 58 e)None
Example:-18 What is the code for NOTE ?
a)40, 75, 96, 34 b)33, 99, 87, 14 c)04, 67, 78, 21 d)22, 56, 65, 43 e)None
Example:-19 What is the code for WRITER ?
a)55, 10, 66, 57, 00, 31 b)89, 12, 75, 58, 11, 23 c)76, 23, 77, 79, 13, 12
d)68, 31, 86, 87, 42,10 e)None

Solution (17-19):-
E =00, 13, 21, 34, 42
I =59, 66, 75, 77, 98
N=04, 11, 22, 33, 40
O=56, 67, 75, 88, 99
P= 57, 69, 78, 86, 95
R= 10, 12, 13, 31, 44
T= 58, 65, 79, 87, 96
W=55, 68, 76, 89, 97.
Answer 17:- (d)

Option P E N T

(1) 87 21 31 66

(2) 95 33 40 78

(3) 57 02 34 87

(4) 78 42 11 58

Answer 18:- (a)

501
 Option N O T E

(1) 40 75 96 34

(2) 33 99 87 14

(3) 04 67 78 21

(4) 22 56 65 43

Answer 19:- (c)

Option W R I T E R

(1) 55 10 66 57 00 31

(2) 89 02 75 58 11 23

(3) 76 23 77 79 13 02

(4) 68 31 86 87 42 10

502
DIRECTION

In this test, the questions consist of a sort of direction puzzle. A successive followup of direction is
formulated and the candidate is required to ascertain the final direction or the distance between two
points. The test is meant to judge the candidate's ability to trace, follow and sense the direction
correctly.

The figure shows the four main directions (North N, South S, East E, West W) and the four cardinals
(North East NE, North West NW, South East SE, South West SW) to help the candidates to know the
directions.

To solve such problems it is necessary to make sketches on paper as per the direction of th e questions.
Generally to confuse the candidates the left or right turns are provided in the direction (question). Here
it is necessary to understand that on the surface of the paper, clock wise direction is the right and
anticlockwise direction is the left.

503
 SOLVED EXAMPLES :
1 . Anil walks 20 meters towards the east and turns left, and continues to walk for 15
metres after which he turns right and continues to walk for 25 metres. After that he
tur ns right and walks for 15 metres. How far is he away from his original place?

Ans. Let he starts from A and takes respective turns at B, C, D and finally reaches at E

ie, Anil is 45 m away from his original place.

2 . Rema walks from point 'P' for 6 km towards east to reach point 'Q' then she turns
right and walks for 8 km to reach point 'R' Then she turns towards east and walks for
4 km to reach at poin t 'S' Then she turn s left and walks 8 km to reach the poin t 'T'
find the distance between points 'P' and 'T ?
Solution:

504