A, B and C are 3 cities that form a triangle and where every city is connected to every other one by at least one direct route. There are 33 routes direct and indirect from A to C and there are 23 direct routes from B to A. How many direct routes are there from A to C ?(CAT 2000)
Option (b)
Let the number of direct routes from A to B be x, from A to C be z and that from C to B be y. Then the total number of routes from A to C are = xy + z = 33. Since the number of direct routes from A to B are 23, x = 23. Therefore 23y + z = 33. Then y must take value 1 and then z = 10, thus answer = (b).