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GATE 2023 CE (Set 1) question paper PDF and answer key

The official GATE 2023 Civil Engineering (Set 1) paper, organised by IIT Kanpur: 65 questions for 100 marks in 3 hours. Download the official question paper and answer key as PDFs. Below is how the marks were split by topic, the complete official answer key and 5 questions solved step by step.

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Question paper (PDF)Official answer key (PDF)

Source: the official paper and answer key published by IIT Kanpur for GATE 2023 (official GATE site). Spotted a mistake? Email team@lemyte.com.

General Aptitude
10 · 15 marks
Civil Engineering
55 · 85 marks
MCQ / MSQ / NAT
34 / 10 / 21
Marks to all
Q 17, 59

Where the marks were

GATE 2023 CE (Set 1) topic-wise marks

Civil Engineering questions only; General Aptitude adds 15 marks on top. The top three topics carried 47 of the 85 subject marks.

TopicQuestionsMarks
Structural Engineering1118
Geotechnical Engineering1016
Water Resources Engineering813
Environmental Engineering813
Transportation Engineering46
Geomatics Engineering34
Numerical Methods24
Calculus23
Linear Algebra23
Construction Materials and Management22
Partial Differential Equations11
Probability and Statistics11
Ordinary Differential Equations11

Free solved questions

5 solved questions from GATE 2023 CE (Set 1)

Question text and figures as in the official paper, the answer from the official key, and a worked solution. The other 60 solutions are in your report after you take the paper.

Q6 · General Aptitude · MCQ · 2 marks

Based only on the truth of the statement ‘Some humans are intelligent’, which one of the following options can be logically inferred with certainty?

  • (A)
    No human is intelligent.
  • (B)
    All humans are intelligent.
  • (C)
    Some non-humans are intelligent.
  • (D)
    Some intelligent beings are humans.

Answer (official key): D

Solution

“Some humans are intelligent” means there exists at least one entity that is both human and intelligent.

The same entity establishes the equivalent existential statement: “Some intelligent beings are humans.”

Therefore, the correct answer is Option D.

Q7 · General Aptitude · MCQ · 2 marks

Which one of the options can be inferred about the mean, median, and mode for the given probability distribution (i.e. probability mass function), P(x)P(x), of a variable xx?

Probability mass function for Q7

  • (A)
    mean = median ≠ mode
  • (B)
    mean = median = mode
  • (C)
    mean ≠ median = mode
  • (D)
    mean ≠ mode = median

Answer (official key): A

Solution

The plotted probability mass function is symmetric about the centre, so its mean and median coincide at the centre of symmetry.

The highest bars occur away from the centre (at the symmetric side peaks), so the mode is not equal to that central value.

Therefore,

mean=median≠mode.\text{mean}=\text{median}\ne\text{mode}.

Therefore, the correct answer is Option A.

Q24 · Linear Algebra · MSQ · 1 mark

If MM is an arbitrary real n×nn\times n matrix, then which of the following matrices will have non-negative eigenvalues?

  • (A)
    M2M^2
  • (B)
    MMTMM^T
  • (C)
    MTMM^TM
  • (D)
    (MT)2(M^T)^2

Answer (official key): B, C

Solution

For any vector xx,

xTMMTx=∥MTx∥2≥0,x^TMM^Tx=\|M^Tx\|^2\ge0,

so MMTMM^T is positive semidefinite.

Similarly,

xTMTMx=∥Mx∥2≥0,x^TM^TMx=\|Mx\|^2\ge0,

so MTMM^TM is positive semidefinite.

The matrices M2M^2 and (MT)2(M^T)^2 need not have non-negative eigenvalues for an arbitrary real matrix.

Therefore, the correct answers are Options B and C.

Q26 · Structural Engineering · MSQ · 1 mark

Consider the following three structures shown in the figure:

Structure I: Beam with hinge support at A, roller at C, guided roller at E, and internal hinges at B and D.

Structure II: Pin-jointed truss, with hinge support at A, and rollers at B and D.

Structure III: Pin-jointed truss, with hinge support at A and roller at C.

Three structures for stability check Q26

Which of the following statements is/are TRUE?

  • (A)
    Structure I is unstable
  • (B)
    Structure II is unstable
  • (C)
    Structure III is unstable
  • (D)
    All three structures are stable

Answer (official key): A, B, C

Solution

A kinematic stability check of each source configuration shows an admissible mechanism:

  • Structure I is unstable with the stated internal hinges/support arrangement.
  • Structure II is unstable with the stated pin/roller support arrangement.
  • Structure III contains an unbraced mechanism in the left portion of the truss.

Therefore Structures I, II and III are all unstable.

Therefore, the correct answers are Options A, B and C.

Q29 · Probability and Statistics · Numerical · 1 mark

The probabilities of occurrences of two independent events A and B are 0.5 and 0.8, respectively. What is the probability of occurrence of at least A or B (rounded off to one decimal place)?

Answer (official key): 0.9

Solution

For independent events,

P(Ac∩Bc)=(1−0.5)(1−0.8)=0.5(0.2)=0.1.P(A^c\cap B^c) = (1-0.5)(1-0.8) = 0.5(0.2) = 0.1.

Therefore,

P(A∪B)=1−0.1=0.9.P(A\cup B)=1-0.1=0.9.

Therefore, the answer is 0.9 (official accepted range 0.9 to 0.9).

The other 60 questions are solved in your report when you take GATE 2023 CE (Set 1) as a 3-hour test.

Take GATE 2023 CE (Set 1) as a test

Official answer key

GATE 2023 CE (Set 1) answer key

All 65 answers from the official key. Numerical answers are ranges; “or” means the key accepts either answer.

Download the official GATE 2023 CE (Set 1) answer key (PDF)
QTopicTypeMarksAnswer
1Verbal AptitudeMCQ1C
2Verbal AptitudeMCQ1C
3Quantitative AptitudeMCQ1A
4Analytical AptitudeMCQ1D
5Spatial AptitudeMCQ1B
6Analytical AptitudeMCQ2D
7Quantitative AptitudeMCQ2A
8Verbal AptitudeMCQ2D
9Quantitative AptitudeMCQ2A
10Quantitative AptitudeMCQ2A
11CalculusMCQ1D
12Structural EngineeringMCQ1B
13Construction Materials and ManagementMCQ1A
14Structural EngineeringMCQ1A
15Construction Materials and ManagementMCQ1A
16Geotechnical EngineeringMCQ1B
17Geotechnical EngineeringMCQ1Marks to all
18Geotechnical EngineeringMCQ1A
19Water Resources EngineeringMCQ1C
20Environmental EngineeringMCQ1D
21Transportation EngineeringMCQ1A
22Geomatics EngineeringMCQ1D
23Geomatics EngineeringMCQ1C
24Linear AlgebraMSQ1B, C
25Partial Differential EquationsMSQ1B, C
26Structural EngineeringMSQ1A, B, C
27Environmental EngineeringMSQ1A, C
28Environmental EngineeringMSQ1B
29Probability and StatisticsNumerical10.9
30Ordinary Differential EquationsNumerical10.445 to 0.447
31Structural EngineeringNumerical1134 to 136
32Geotechnical EngineeringNumerical135
33Water Resources EngineeringNumerical10.045 to 0.047
34Water Resources EngineeringNumerical13
35Transportation EngineeringNumerical115 or 26 to 27
36Numerical MethodsMCQ2A
37Structural EngineeringMCQ2A
38Structural EngineeringMCQ2B
39Structural EngineeringMCQ2B
40Geotechnical EngineeringMCQ2D
41Geotechnical EngineeringMCQ2A
42Geotechnical EngineeringMCQ2A
43Water Resources EngineeringMCQ2A
44Water Resources EngineeringMCQ2A
45Environmental EngineeringMCQ2D
46Transportation EngineeringMCQ2C
47Linear AlgebraMSQ2A, B, D
48CalculusMSQ2A
49Structural EngineeringMSQ2A, B
50Environmental EngineeringMSQ2B, D
51Transportation EngineeringMSQ2B, C
52Numerical MethodsNumerical2-0.152 to -0.149
53Structural EngineeringNumerical27
54Structural EngineeringNumerical213.5 to 14.5
55Structural EngineeringNumerical2464000 to 472000
56Geotechnical EngineeringNumerical24.8 to 5.2
57Geotechnical EngineeringNumerical234 to 37
58Geotechnical EngineeringNumerical23.3 to 3.35
59Water Resources EngineeringNumerical2Marks to all
60Water Resources EngineeringNumerical20.6 to 0.64
61Water Resources EngineeringNumerical269.7 to 70.1
62Environmental EngineeringNumerical218 to 19
63Environmental EngineeringNumerical212 to 15
64Environmental EngineeringNumerical216200
65Geomatics EngineeringNumerical2137.5 to 137.73

Questions about GATE 2023 CE (Set 1)

How many questions are in the GATE 2023 CE (Set 1) paper?

65 questions for 100 marks: 10 General Aptitude questions worth 15 marks and 55 Civil Engineering questions worth 85 marks. By type, there were 34 MCQs, 10 MSQs, 21 numerical answer (NAT) questions. The paper lasted 3 hours.

Is there negative marking in GATE 2023 CE (Set 1)?

Yes, for MCQs only. A wrong MCQ answer costs one-third of its marks (−⅓ for a 1-mark question, −⅔ for a 2-mark question). MSQ and numerical (NAT) questions have no negative marking, and an MSQ earns marks only when every correct option is chosen.

Which topics carried the most marks in GATE 2023 CE (Set 1)?

Outside General Aptitude, the biggest topics were Structural Engineering (18 marks), Geotechnical Engineering (16 marks), Water Resources Engineering (13 marks). The full topic-wise split is in the table on this page.

Were any GATE 2023 CE (Set 1) questions awarded marks to all?

Yes. The official key awarded full marks to everyone for questions 17, 59.

Where does this GATE 2023 CE (Set 1) answer key come from?

From the official answer key published by IIT Kanpur, which organised GATE 2023. Range answers for numerical questions and questions with more than one accepted answer are kept exactly as the key gives them.

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