CAT Quantitative Aptitude Questions | CAT Permutation and Combination Questions

The question is from Permutation and Combination. A question which combines number theory with combinatorics. We need to find out how many times a particular number is repeated in a particular series. This section hosts a number of questions which are on par with CAT questions in difficulty on CAT Permutation and Combination, and CAT Probability.

Question 7: If we listed all numbers from 100 to 10,000, how many times would the digit 3 be printed?

1. 3980
2. 3700
3. 3840
4. 3780

Explanatory Answer

Method of solving this CAT Question from Permutation and Combination: This is a very popular template. This question is based on counting the number of times a particular digit appears in a list.

We need to consider all three digit and all 4-digit numbers.

Three-digit numbers: A B C. 3 can be printed in the 100’s place or 10’s place or units place.

=> 100’s place: 3 B C. B can take values 0 to 9, C can take values 0 to 9. So, 3 gets printed in the 100’s place 100 times
=> 10’s place: A 3 C. A can take values 1 to 9, C can take values 0 to 9. So, 3 gets printed in the 10’s place 90 times
=> Unit’s place: A B 3. A can take values 1 to 9, B can take values 0 to 9. So, 3 gets printed in the unit’s place 90 times

So, 3 gets printed 280 times in 3-digit numbers

Four-digit numbers: A B C D. 3 can be printed in the 1000’s place, 100’s place or 10’s place or units place.

=> 1000’s place: 3 B C D. B can take values 0 to 9, C can take values 0 to 9, D can take values 0 to 9. So, 3 gets printed in the 100’s place 1000 times.
=> 100’s place: A 3 C D. A can take values 1 to 9, C & D can take values 0 to 9. So, 3 gets printed in the 100’s place 900 times.
=> 10’s place: A B 3 D. A can take values 1 to 9, B & D can take values 0 to 9. So, 3 gets printed in the 10’s place 900 times.
=> Unit’s place: A B C 3. A can take values 1 to 9, B & C can take values 0 to 9. So, 3 gets printed in the unit’s place 900 times.

3 gets printed 3700 times in 4-digit numbers.
So, there are totally 3700 + 280 = 3980 numbers.

The question is "If we listed all numbers from 100 to 10,000, how many times would the digit 3 be printed?"

Hence the answer is "3980"

Choice A is the correct answer.