Advanced Analytical Skills — II

Unit 7: Coded Inequalities

Master the art of decoding symbolic inequalities, solving chain comparisons, comparing roots of quadratic equations, and cracking every competitive exam question on this topic.

⏱️ Time to Complete: 6–8 hours  |  📝 30 MCQs + 8 Short + 3 Long (Bloom's Mapped)  |  15 Worked Examples

🎯 Exams this covers: Bank PO (SBI/IBPS)  |  SSC CGL  |  CAT  |  CLAT  |  University Aptitude Tests

Section 1

Opening Hook — When Symbols Replace Logic

🧩 The Code That Decides Your Bank Job

It's February 2026. You sit down for your SBI PO Prelims at 10:00 AM in a packed exam centre in Lucknow. 35 reasoning questions. 20 minutes. The clock is ticking. Question 14 appears on screen:

Statements:   P © Q,   Q £ R,   R @ S
Conclusions:   I. P © S     II. S £ P

Your friend panics. You smile. Because you know © means >, £ means <, @ means =. You decode, chain, and solve in 15 seconds: P > Q < R = S → neither conclusion follows. Answer marked. Next question.

This isn't magic — it's Coded Inequalities. The single most predictable, most scoreable topic in banking exams. 5 questions. Every exam. Guaranteed.

🏦 SBI PO🏦 IBPS PO/Clerk📋 SSC CGL📋 RRB NTPC🎓 CAT⚖️ CLAT
In SBI PO 2024, exactly 5 out of 35 reasoning questions were on Coded Inequalities. Students who practised this topic scored a perfect 5/5 in under 2 minutes, while others spent 4–5 minutes and still got them wrong. That 5-mark advantage often decides the cutoff.
Section 2

Learning Outcomes — Bloom's Taxonomy Mapped

Bloom's LevelLearning Outcome
🔵 RememberList the six fundamental inequality symbols (>, <, ≥, ≤, =, ≠) and recall coded symbol mappings
🔵 UnderstandExplain how a coded inequality statement translates into a standard mathematical inequality
🟢 ApplyDecode coded statements and form a single combined chain inequality
🟢 AnalyseAnalyse a given chain to determine which conclusions are definitely true, definitely false, or can't be determined
🟠 EvaluateEvaluate conclusions involving quadratic-root-based inequalities and mixed chains
🟠 CreateCreate your own coded inequality problem sets and solve advanced multi-statement questions under exam pressure