GATE 2024 CE (Set 1) question paper PDF and answer key

The official GATE 2024 Civil Engineering (Set 1) paper, organised by IISc Bengaluru: 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 IISc Bengaluru for GATE 2024 (official GATE site). Spotted a mistake? Email team@lemyte.com.

General Aptitude: 10 · 15 marks
Civil Engineering: 55 · 85 marks
MCQ / MSQ / NAT: 37 / 5 / 23
Marks to all: None

Where the marks were

GATE 2024 CE (Set 1) topic-wise marks

Civil Engineering questions only; General Aptitude adds 15 marks on top. The top three topics carried 41 of the 85 subject marks.

Topic	Questions	Marks
Structural Engineering	10	16
Geotechnical Engineering	8	13
Water Resources Engineering	7	12
Transportation Engineering	7	11
Environmental Engineering	5	8
Geomatics Engineering	5	7
Construction Materials and Management	4	5
Probability and Statistics	2	3
Numerical Methods	2	2
Partial Differential Equations	2	2
Linear Algebra	1	2
Calculus	1	2
Ordinary Differential Equations	1	2

Free solved questions

5 solved questions from GATE 2024 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.

Q3 · General Aptitude · MCQ · 1 mark

For positive integers $p$ and $q$ , with

\frac{p}{q}\ne1,

\left(\frac{p}{q}\right)^{p/q} = p^{(p/q-1)}.

Then,

(A)
$q^p=p^q$
(B)
$q^p=p^{2q}$
(C)
$\sqrt q=\sqrt p$
(D)
$\sqrt[p]{q}=\sqrt[q]{p}$

Answer (official key): A

Solution

Starting from

\left(\frac pq\right)^{p/q}=p^{p/q-1},

write the left side as

p^{p/q}q^{-p/q}.

Dividing both sides by $p^{p/q-1}$ gives

p\,q^{-p/q}=1.

Hence

p=q^{p/q}.

Raise both sides to the power $q$ :

p^q=q^p.

Therefore,

q^p=p^q.

Therefore, the correct answer is Option A.

Q4 · General Aptitude · MCQ · 1 mark

Which one of the given options is a possible value of $x$ in the following sequence?

3,\ 7,\ 15,\ x,\ 63,\ 127,\ 255

(A)
35
(B)
40
(C)
45
(D)
31

Answer (official key): D

Solution

Each term is obtained from the previous term by

a_{n+1}=2a_n+1.

Thus

3\to7\to15\to31\to63\to127\to255.

Therefore,

x=31.

Therefore, the correct answer is Option D.

Q17 · Construction Materials and Management · MCQ · 1 mark

The following figure shows the arrangement of formwork for casting a cantilever RC beam.

Cantilever RC beam shores for Q17

The correct sequence of removing the Shores/Props is

(A)
$S1\to S2\to S3\to S4\to S5$
(B)
$S5\to S4\to S3\to S2\to S1$
(C)
$S3\to S2\to S4\to S1\to S5$
(D)
$S3\to S4\to S2\to S5\to S1$

Answer (official key): B

Solution

For a cantilever, the props should be removed progressively from the free end toward the fixed end. This allows the cantilever action to develop gradually without prematurely removing the support closest to the fixed end.

In the figure, S5 is at the free end and S1 is nearest the column.

Thus the sequence is

S5\to S4\to S3\to S2\to S1.

Therefore, the correct answer is Option B.

Q28 · Partial Differential Equations · MSQ · 1 mark

For the following partial differential equation,

x\frac{\partial^2f}{\partial x^2} + y\frac{\partial^2f}{\partial y^2} = \frac{x^2+y^2}{2},

which of the following option(s) is/are CORRECT?

(A)
elliptic for $x>0$ and $y>0$
(B)
parabolic for $x>0$ and $y>0$
(C)
elliptic for $x=0$ and $y>0$
(D)
hyperbolic for $x<0$ and $y>0$

Answer (official key): A, D

Solution

For a second-order PDE

A f_{xx}+2B f_{xy}+C f_{yy}=\cdots,

classification depends on

B^2-AC.

Here

A=x,\qquad B=0,\qquad C=y,

B^2-AC=-xy.

If $x>0,y>0$ , then $-xy<0$ : elliptic.
If $x=0,y>0$ , then the discriminant is zero: parabolic, so option C is false.
If $x<0,y>0$ , then $-xy>0$ : hyperbolic.

Therefore, the correct answers are Options A and D.

Q32 · Numerical Methods · Numerical · 1 mark

Consider the data of $f(x)$ given in the table.

$i$	0	1	2
$x_i$	1	2	3
$f(x_i)$	0	0.3010	0.4771

The value of $f(1.5)$ estimated using second-order Newton’s interpolation formula is ______________ (rounded off to 2 decimal places).

Answer (official key): 0.16 to 0.18

Solution

The points are equally spaced with $h=1$ . Using Newton's forward formula about $x_0=1$ ,

u=\frac{1.5-1}{1}=0.5.

First differences:

\Delta f_0=0.3010, \qquad \Delta f_1=0.4771-0.3010=0.1761.

Second difference:

\Delta^2f_0=0.1761-0.3010=-0.1249.

Therefore,

f(1.5) = f_0+u\Delta f_0+\frac{u(u-1)}{2}\Delta^2f_0.

Hence

f(1.5) = 0+0.5(0.3010) +\frac{0.5(-0.5)}2(-0.1249) \approx0.1661.

Rounded to two decimals, the value is $0.17$ .

Therefore, the answer is 0.17 (official accepted range 0.16 to 0.18).

The other 60 questions are solved in your report when you take GATE 2024 CE (Set 1) as a 3-hour test.

Take GATE 2024 CE (Set 1) as a test

Official answer key

GATE 2024 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 2024 CE (Set 1) answer key (PDF)

Q	Topic	Type	Marks	Answer
1	Verbal Aptitude	MCQ	1	B
2	Quantitative Aptitude	MCQ	1	A
3	Quantitative Aptitude	MCQ	1	A
4	Quantitative Aptitude	MCQ	1	D
5	Quantitative Aptitude	MCQ	1	C
6	Verbal Aptitude	MCQ	2	D
7	Analytical Aptitude	MCQ	2	A
8	Quantitative Aptitude	MCQ	2	A
9	Analytical Aptitude	MCQ	2	C
10	Quantitative Aptitude	MCQ	2	B
11	Numerical Methods	MCQ	1	A
12	Partial Differential Equations	MCQ	1	B
13	Probability and Statistics	MCQ	1	A
14	Structural Engineering	MCQ	1	A
15	Construction Materials and Management	MCQ	1	C
16	Construction Materials and Management	MCQ	1	A
17	Construction Materials and Management	MCQ	1	B
18	Geotechnical Engineering	MCQ	1	A
19	Geotechnical Engineering	MCQ	1	D
20	Water Resources Engineering	MCQ	1	C
21	Environmental Engineering	MCQ	1	B
22	Transportation Engineering	MCQ	1	D
23	Transportation Engineering	MCQ	1	A
24	Transportation Engineering	MCQ	1	B
25	Geomatics Engineering	MCQ	1	B
26	Geomatics Engineering	MCQ	1	A
27	Geomatics Engineering	MCQ	1	A
28	Partial Differential Equations	MSQ	1	A, D
29	Structural Engineering	MSQ	1	C, D
30	Structural Engineering	MSQ	1	B, C
31	Environmental Engineering	MSQ	1	A, B
32	Numerical Methods	Numerical	1	0.16 to 0.18
33	Structural Engineering	Numerical	1	9
34	Geotechnical Engineering	Numerical	1	16.6 to 16.8
35	Water Resources Engineering	Numerical	1	1852 to 1858
36	Linear Algebra	MCQ	2	A
37	Calculus	MCQ	2	D
38	Structural Engineering	MCQ	2	A
39	Structural Engineering	MCQ	2	A
40	Structural Engineering	MCQ	2	A
41	Geotechnical Engineering	MCQ	2	B
42	Water Resources Engineering	MCQ	2	A
43	Environmental Engineering	MCQ	2	A
44	Transportation Engineering	MCQ	2	A
45	Geomatics Engineering	MCQ	2	B
46	Geotechnical Engineering	MSQ	2	A, B
47	Probability and Statistics	Numerical	2	21 to 23
48	Ordinary Differential Equations	Numerical	2	24.5 to 25.5
49	Structural Engineering	Numerical	2	7 to 8
50	Structural Engineering	Numerical	2	299 to 301
51	Construction Materials and Management	Numerical	2	6000
52	Structural Engineering	Numerical	2	99 to 102
53	Geotechnical Engineering	Numerical	2	1550 to 1600
54	Geotechnical Engineering	Numerical	2	48 to 50
55	Geotechnical Engineering	Numerical	2	0.09 to 0.11 or 0.55 to 0.65
56	Water Resources Engineering	Numerical	2	86 to 88
57	Water Resources Engineering	Numerical	2	1.09 to 1.12
58	Water Resources Engineering	Numerical	2	4.4 to 4.7
59	Water Resources Engineering	Numerical	2	5575 to 5585
60	Environmental Engineering	Numerical	2	7.8 to 8
61	Environmental Engineering	Numerical	2	99 to 100
62	Transportation Engineering	Numerical	2	86 to 90
63	Transportation Engineering	Numerical	2	54 to 58
64	Transportation Engineering	Numerical	2	40.6 to 40.9
65	Geomatics Engineering	Numerical	2	10

Questions about GATE 2024 CE (Set 1)

How many questions are in the GATE 2024 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 37 MCQs, 5 MSQs, 23 numerical answer (NAT) questions. The paper lasted 3 hours.

Is there negative marking in GATE 2024 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 2024 CE (Set 1)?

Outside General Aptitude, the biggest topics were Structural Engineering (16 marks), Geotechnical Engineering (13 marks), Water Resources Engineering (12 marks). The full topic-wise split is in the table on this page.

Were any GATE 2024 CE (Set 1) questions awarded marks to all?

No. Every question was graded with the answer in the official key.

Where does this GATE 2024 CE (Set 1) answer key come from?

From the official answer key published by IISc Bengaluru, which organised GATE 2024. Range answers for numerical questions and questions with more than one accepted answer are kept exactly as the key gives them.

GATE 2024 CE (Set 1) question paper PDF and answer key

GATE 2024 CE (Set 1) topic-wise marks

5 solved questions from GATE 2024 CE (Set 1)

GATE 2024 CE (Set 1) answer key

Questions about GATE 2024 CE (Set 1)

How many questions are in the GATE 2024 CE (Set 1) paper?

Is there negative marking in GATE 2024 CE (Set 1)?

Which topics carried the most marks in GATE 2024 CE (Set 1)?

Were any GATE 2024 CE (Set 1) questions awarded marks to all?

Where does this GATE 2024 CE (Set 1) answer key come from?

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