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UPSC 2008: There are two identical red, two identical black and two identical white balls. In how many different ways can the balls be placed in the cells (each cell to contain one ball) shown above such that balls of the same colour do not occupy any two consecutive cells?
(a)15
(b)18
(c)24
(d)30
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Not attemptedCorrect Answer: (c) 24
Count permissible 6-letter strings (RR, BB, WW identical pairs) with no same-colour adjacency. Starting with any colour gives 8 valid arrangements; since there are 3 choices for the starting colour, total ways = 8 × 3 = 24. ([sarthaks.com](https://www.sarthaks.com/71042/there-are-two-identical-red-two-identical-black-two-identical-white-balls-many-different?utm_source=openai))
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What is the correct answer to this UPSC 2008 Science & Technology question?▼
The correct answer is option (c): 24. Watch the detailed video explanation in our Sherlocking Prelims course on UnlockIAS.
Which year was this Quantitative Aptitude question asked in UPSC Prelims?▼
This question was asked in UPSC CSE Prelims 2008, GS Paper 1, as Question 149. It falls under Science & Technology > Quantitative Aptitude.
What is the difficulty level of this UPSC question?▼
This question is rated "moderate". It requires sound conceptual understanding of the topic.
How many UPSC Prelims questions have been asked from Quantitative Aptitude?▼
UPSC has asked 178 questions from Quantitative Aptitude (under Science & Technology) across multiple years. Visit the topic page to see the full list and year-wise trends.