Inequalities & ModulusCAT Previous-Year Questions

31 previous-year questions on Inequalities & Modulus from CAT, with full solutions. Practise free — check answers as you go; sign in to save your progress.

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31 questions

Inequalities & Modulus · CAT PYQs

CAT 2024 Slot 2 · QA
Q1.

The value of x satisfying the inequality 1x+5 ≤ 12x-3 are

CAT 2024 Slot 2 · QA
Q2.

If x and y satisfy the equations |x| + x + y = 15 and x + |y| - y = 20, then (x - y) equals

CAT 2024 Slot 3 · QA
Q3.

The number of distinct real values of x, satisfying the equation 

max{x, 2} - min{x, 2} = |x + 2| - |x - 2|, is

CAT 2024 Slot 3 · QA
Q4.

The number of distinct integer solutions (x, y) of the equation |x + y| + |x - y| = 2, is

CAT 2023 Slot 2 · QA
Q5.

Any non-zero real numbers x, y such that y ≠ 3 and xy < x+3y-3, will satisfy the condition

CAT 2022 Slot 1 · QA
Q6.

The largest real value of a for which the equation |x + a| + |x - 1| = 2 has an infinite number of solutions for x is

CAT 2022 Slot 1 · QA
Q7.

Let 0 ≤ a ≤ x ≤ 100 and f(x) = |x - a| + |x - 100| + |x - a - 50|. Then the maximum value of f(x) becomes 100 when a is equal to

CAT 2022 Slot 3 · QA
Q8.

The minimum possibe value of x2-6x+103-x, for x < 3, is

CAT 2022 Slot 3 · QA
Q9.

If c = 16xy + 49yx for some non-zero real numbers x and y, then c cannot take the value

CAT 2021 Slot 1 · QA
Q10.

The number of integers n that satisfy the inequalities |n - 60| < |n - 100|  < |n - 20| is

CAT 2021 Slot 2 · QA
Q11.

For a real number x the condition |3x - 20| + |3x - 40| = 20 necessarily holds if

CAT 2021 Slot 3 · QA
Q12.

If 3x + 2|y| + y = 7 and x + |x| + 3y = 1, then x + 2y is

CAT 2021 Slot 3 · QA
Q13.

The number of distinct pairs of integers (m, n) satisfying |1 + mn| < |m + n| < 5 is

CAT 2018 Slot 2 · QA
Q14.

If the sum of squares of two numbers is 97, then which one of the following cannot be their product?

CAT 2017 Slot 1 · QA
Q15.

For how many integers n, will the inequality (n – 5) (n – 10) – 3(n – 2) ≤ 0 be satisfied?

CAT 2017 Slot 1 · QA
Q16.

If a, b, c, and d are integers such that a + b + c + d = 30, then the minimum possible value of (a - b)2 + (a - c)2 + (a - d)2 is

CAT 2004 · QA
Q17.

If f(x) = x3 – 4x + p, and f(0) and f(1) are of opposite signs, then which of the following is necessarily true?

CAT 2003 Slot 1 · QA
Passage / Data

Each question is followed by two statements, A and B. Answer each question using the following instructions

Choose 1 if the question can be answered by using one of the statements alone but not by using the other statement alone.
Choose 2 if the question can be answered by using either of the statements alone.
Choose 3 if the question can be answered by using both statements together but not by either statement alone.
Choose 4 if the question cannot be answered on the basis of the two statements.

Q18.

Let a, b, c, d be four integers such that a + b + c + d = 4m + 1 where m is a positive integer. Given m, which one of the following is necessarily true?

CAT 2003 Slot 1 · QA
Passage / Data

Each question is followed by two statements, A and B. Answer each question using the following instructions

Choose 1 if the question can be answered by using one of the statements alone but not by using the other statement alone.
Choose 2 if the question can be answered by using either of the statements alone.
Choose 3 if the question can be answered by using both statements together but not by either statement alone.
Choose 4 if the question cannot be answered on the basis of the two statements.

Q19.

Given that −1 ≤ v ≤ 1, −2 ≤ u ≤ −0.5 and −2 ≤ z ≤ −0.5 and w = vz/u, then which of the following is necessarily true?

CAT 2003 Slot 1 · QA
Passage / Data

Each question is followed by two statements, A and B. Answer each question using the following instructions

Choose 1 if the question can be answered by using one of the statements alone but not by using the other statement alone.
Choose 2 if the question can be answered by using either of the statements alone.
Choose 3 if the question can be answered by using both statements together but not by either statement alone.
Choose 4 if the question cannot be answered on the basis of the two statements.

Q20.

If x, y, z are distinct positive real numbers, then x2(y+z)+y2(x+z)+z2(x+y)xyz would be

CAT 2003 Slot 2 · QA
Q21.

If |b| ≥ 1 and x = –|a|b, then which one of the following is necessarily true?

CAT 2003 Slot 2 · QA
Passage / Data

Answer the following question based on the information given below.

Consider three circular parks of equal size with centres at A1, A2 and A3 respectively. The parks touch each other at the edge as shown in the figure (not drawn to scale). There are three paths formed by the triangles A1A2A3, B1B2B3 and C1C2C3, as shown. Three sprinters A, B, and C begin running from points A1, B1 and C1 respectively. Each sprinter traverses her respective triangular path clockwise and returns to her starting point.

Q22.

A real number x satisfying 1-1n<x3+1n, for every positive integer n, is best described by:

CAT 2001 · QA
Q23.

If x > 5 and y < −1, then which of the following statements is true?

CAT 2001 · QA
Q24.

x and y are real numbers satisfying the conditions 2 < x < 3 and –8 < y < –7. Which of the following expressions will have the least value?

CAT 2001 · QA
Q25.

If a, b, c and d are four positive real numbers such that abcd = 1, what is the minimum value of (1 + a)(1 + b)(1 + c)(1 + d)?

 

CAT 2001 · QA
Passage / Data

 

 

Q26.

Let x, y be two positive numbers such that x + y = 1. Then, the minimum value of (x+1x)2+(y+1y)2 is ______.

CAT 2000 · QA
Q27.

If x > 2 and y > – 1, Then which of the following statements is necessarily true?

CAT 2000 · QA
Passage / Data

Answer the following question based on the information given below.

Sixteen teams have been invited to participate in the ABC Gold Cup cricket tournament. The tournament is conducted in two stages. In the first stage, the teams are divided into two groups. Each group consists of eight teams, with each team playing every other team in its group exactly once. At the end of the first stage, the top four teams from each group advance to the second stage while the rest are eliminated. The second stage comprises of several rounds. A round involves one match for each team. The winner of a match in a round advances to the next round, while the loser is eliminated. The team that remains undefeated in the second stage is declared the winner and claims the Gold Cup.

The tournament rules are such that each match results in a winner and a loser with no possibility of a tie. In the first stage, a team earns one point for each win and no points for a loss. At the end of the first stage teams in each group are ranked on the basis of total points to determine the qualifiers advancing to the next stage. Ties are resolved by a series of complex tie-breaking rules so that exactly four teams from each group advance to the next stage.

Q28.

If x2 + y2 = 0.1 and |x – y| = 0.2, then |x| + |y| is equal to

CAT 1999 · QA
Q29.

If |r − 6| = 11 and |2q − 12| = 8,what is the minimum possible value of qr?

CAT 1996 · QA
Passage / Data

Answer the questions based on the following information.

A series S1 of five positive integers is such that the third term is half the first term and the fifth term is 20 more than the first term. In series S2, the nth term defined as the difference between the (n + 1)th term and the nth term of series S1, is an arithmetic progression with a common difference of 30.

Q30.

Which of the following values of x do not satisfy the inequality (x2 – 3x + 2 > 0) at all?

CAT 1995 · QA
Passage / Data

Direction: Answer the questions based on the following information.
Four sisters — Suvarna, Tara, Uma and Vibha are playing a game such that the loser doubles the money of each of the other players from her share. They played four games and each sister lost one game in alphabetical order. At the end of fourth game, each sister had Rs.32.

Q31.

What is the value of m which satisfies 3m2 – 21m + 30 < 0?