Mental Ability

Inserting The Missing

CHAPTER 13
Character
In such type of questions, a figure, a set of figures, an arrangement or a matrix is given, each of which bears certain
characters, be it numbers, letters or a group/combination of letters/numbers; following a certain pattern. The
candidate is required to decipher this pattern and accordingly find the missing character in the figure.
Solved examples

Directions : Find the missing character from among the given alternatives.
Ex.1 20160 4
? 4
480 8
96 24

(1) 860 (2) 1140 (3) 2880 (4) 3240

S o l . Clearly, moving clockwise, we observe the following pattern : 4 x 1 = 4; 4 x 2 = 8; 8 x 3 = 24; 24 x 4 = 96;
96 x 5 = 480.
So, required number = (480 x 6) = 2880. Hence, the answer is (3).

P G
Ex.2 N
F
22 21

27 15
K E
? J

(1) M (2) P (3) Q (4) S

S o l . Putting A = 1, B = 2, C = 3, D = 4, ............, X = 24, Y = 25, Z = 26, we have:
F + P = 6 + 16 = 22; G + N = 7 + 14 = 21; J + E = 10 + 5 = 15.
Since K = 11, so value corresponding to missing letter = (27 – 11) = 16.
So, the missing letter is the 16th letter of the English alphabet, which is P. Hence, the answer is (2).
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5 12 6 6 21 7 4 8
Ex.3 ?

4 5 10
(1) 22 (2) 34 (3) 32 (4) None of these

5 6 4 6 7 5
S o l . Clearly, we have = = 12 ; = 21 ;
10 10
4 8 10
So, missing number = = 32
10
Hence, the answer is (3).
13 19 71 9 128 32

Ex.4.
4 10 ?
(1) 10 (2) 15 (3) 20 (4) 25

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13 19 71 9
S o l . Clearly, we have : = 4 ; = 10
8 8
128 32
So, missing number = = 20
8
Hence, the answer is (3).

8 7 7

46 ?
Ex.5. 2 36 6 2 5 4 6

6 8 10

(1) 42 (2) 46 (3) 48 (4) 50

S o l . We have: (8 × 6) – (2 × 6) = 36, (7 × 8) – (2 × 5) = 46.
Missing number = (7 × 10) – (4 × 6) = 46.
Hence, the answer is (2).

56 22 46 10 34 14
41 39 ?
Ex.6
15 8 9 6 11 6

(1) 12 (2) 25 (3) 48 (4) 52

S o l . We have: (56 + 15) – (22 + 8) = 41, (46 + 9) – (10 + 6) = 39.
So, missing number = (34 + 11) – (14 + 6) = 25.
Hence, the answer is (2).

5 21 51
16 109 2 22 53 19 17 ? 48
Ex.7
6 15 13

(3) 7 (2) 25 (3) 49 (4) 129

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S o l . We have: (16 – 6)2 + (5 – 2)2 = 102 + 32 = 109 ; (22 – 15)2 + (21 – 19)2 = 72 + 22 = 53.
So, missing number = (17 –13)2 + (51 – 48)2 = 42 + 32 = 25.
Hence, the answer is (2).

1 2 3
4 5 6
Ex.8 7 8 9
27 38 ?

(1) 49 (2) 50 (3) 51 (4) 52

S o l . In the first column, (4 × 7) – 1 = 27.
In the second column, (5 × 8) – 2 = 38.
So, missing number = (6 × 9) – 3 = (54 – 3) = 51.
Hence, the answer is (3).

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 Mental Ability

18 24 32
12 14 16
Ex.9. 3 ? 4
72 112 128

(1) 2 (2) 3 (3) 4 (4) 5

S o l . In the first column, 12 × (18 3) = 72.
In the third column, 16 × (32 4) = 128.
Let the missing number be x. Then, in the second column, we have :
14 × (24 x) = 112 24 x= 8 x = 3.
Hence, the answer is (2).
Ex.10
F I O

A J K

E M ?
(1) P (2) R (3) S (4) V
S o l . Putting A = 1, B = 2, C = 3, ..... , M = 13, ..... , X = 24, Y = 25, Z = 26, we have:
In the first row, F + I = 6 + 9 = 15 = O.
In the second row, A + J = 1 + 10 = 11 = K
So, in the third row, missing letter = E + M = 5 + 13 = 18 = R.
Hence, the answer is (2).

3C 2B 4A

27A ? 64B
Ex.11
9B 4A 16C

(1) 8C (2) 12B (3) 16C (4) 18C

S o l . In each row, out of the letters A, B and C, each of these must appear once. Also, in each column, the product
of first and third numbers is equal to the second number. So, the missing number will be (2 x 4) i.e. 8 and the
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missing letter will be C. Thus, the answer is 8C. Hence the answer is (1).
Ex.12 CK 16 9 JR
OS 24 19 TX
KM ? ? PV
(1) 14, 21 (2) 21, 14 (3) 56, 84 (4) 84, 56
S o l . Putting A = 1, B = 2, C = 3, ..... , M = 13, ..... , X = 24, Y = 25, Z = 26, we have:
J+R 10 + 18 C K 3 11
JR = +2 = + 2 = 16 ; CK = + 2 = + 2 = 9 ;
2 2 2 2
T X 20 24 O S 15 19
TX = + 2 = + 2 = 24 ; OS = + 2 = + 2 = 19.
2 2 2 2
So the missing numbers are:
P
V 16 22
(i) PV = + 2 = + 2 = 19 + 2 = 21 ;
2 2
K M 11 13
(ii) KM = + 2 = +2 = 12 + 2 = 14.
2 2
Hence, the answer is (2).
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Class X

EXERCISE
Directions (Q. 1 to Q.30) : In each of the following questions, a matrix of certain character is given. These
characters follow a certain trend. Find out this trend and choose the missing character from the given alternatives.

6 7 4 15
7 15 25 28
1. 8 13 ? 20
3 5 7 9

(1) 14 (2) 22 (3) 18 (4) 20

2 10 11 15
9 8 5 20
2. 7 9 ? 10
6 9 11 15

(1) 17 (2) 20 (3) 15 (4) 20

BD 3 CF5 D F15
3. EG 2 FH 4 GI8
HJ 4 IK 6 ?

(1) JL 24 (2) IJ18 (3) JK 18 (4) JL 12

4.

(1) 210 (2) 450 (3) 70 (4) 150

42 22 28 10 0

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36 ? 35 49
5. 60 7 55 79
25 29 10 5 3

(1) 5 (2) 25 (3) 6 (4) 15

3 4 5
6. 3 7 12
3 ? 22

(1) 11 (2) 10 (3) 9 (4) 8

9 ? 16
7. 64 10 36
144 20 256

(1) 20 (2) 40 (3) 5 (4) 0

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13 4 165
8. 3 2 7
? 11 14

(1) 25 (2) 7 (3) 5 (4) 2

9.

(1) 9/R (2) 11/P (3) 13/Q (4) 10/V

963 2 844
10.
464 ? 903

(1) 1 (2) 2 (3) 3 (4) 4

11.

(1) 3.7 (2) 3.8 (3) 3.9 (4) 3.1

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42 44 38

12. 23 55 28
37 ? 39

(1) 22 (2) 33 (3) 66 (4) 77

13. 637 (5) 498
123 (?) 912
(1) 4 (2) 6 (3) 5 (4) 7

19 3 25

14. 17 11 39
9 5 ?

(1) 19 (2) 21 (3) 13 (4) 25

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Class X

15.

(1) 6 (2) 8 (3) 10 (4) 14

? 4 52
45 11 43
16. 67 23 28
25 16 37

(1) 3 (2) 2 (3) 5 (4) 6

2 4 0
1 2 4
17. 3 1 3
36 ? 91

(1) 25 (2) 48 (3) 59 (4) 73

18.

(1) 16 (2) 40 (3) 62 (4) 83

1 3 28
19. 2 5 133
7 ? 407

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(1) 4 (2) 6 (3) 8 (4) 9

20.

(1) 864 (2) 1234 (3) 1356 (4) 862

21.

(1) 15 (2) 14 (3) 20 (4) 12

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 Mental Ability

22.

(1) 1 (2) 731 (3) 1625 (4) 2031

6 11 25
8 6 16
23.
12 5 ?

(1) 18 (2) 16 (3) 12 (4) 10

13 54 ?
7 45 32
24.
27 144 68

(1) 42 (2) 36 (3) 6 (4) 4

51 11 61
64 30 32
25.
35 ? 43

(1) 25 (2) 27 (3) 32 (4) 37

72 24 6
96 16 12
26.
108 ? 18
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(1) 12 (2) 16 (3) 18 (4) 20

A D H
F I M
27.
? N R

(1) K (2) N (3) O (4) P

A D G
D I N
28.
I P ?

(1) V (2) W (3) X (4) Y

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Class X

H K Q
C G O
29.
E J ?

(1) T (2) P (3) N (4) L

B G N
D J R
30.
G N ?

(1) U (2) V (3) W (4) X

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ANSWERS
Qu e. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Ans . 4 1 1 3 3 2 3 3 2 2 3 1 2 1 3
Qu e. 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
Ans . 1 4 4 1 1 2 4 2 4 2 1 1 2 1 3

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 Mental Ability

EXERCISE
QUESTIONS RELATED TO VARIOUS OLYMPIADS
Directions (Q. 1 & Q.2) : In the following questions select from the answer choises an appropriate number
to replace the question mark.

3 6 11 1 9 2
1. 45 ? 85

(1) 177 (2) 122 (3) 123 (4) 141

6 9
99
2.
? 15

(1) 10 (2) 14 (3) 5 (4) 9

3. If the same functions are applied to reach the results in each of the three sets of numbers, find what number
should replace the ? in the last set:
21 5 28 13 16 2

24 30 ?

17 7 25 7 10 8

(1) 30 (2) 36 (3) 32 (4) 35

4. In the given matrix, the characters follow a certain trend, row wise or column wise. Find out this trend and
choose the missing character accordingly.

18 24 32
12 14 16
3 ? 4

72 112 128

(1) 2 (2) 3 (3) 4 (4) 5

5. What number should replace the question mark in the given figures?

9 6 7
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13 36 ?
2 5 9 18 8 15

(1) 41 (2) 32 (3) 45 (4) 48

6. Find the missing number in the given set of numbers.

25 17 38 18 89 16
6 8 ?

(1) 13 (2) 15 (3) 17 (4) 19

7. Identify the missing number.

1 2 5

0 69 2 3 30 1 2 ? 1

8 4 4

(1) 24 (2) 36 (3) 74 (4) 46

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8. Find the missing number in the adjoining figure.

T S
W 3 15 D
10 ?
J P
T G

(1) 5 (2) 9 (3) 11 (4) 13

Directions (Q.9 to Q.25) : In the following questions select from the answer choises an appropriate number
to replace the question mark.

12 8 7
5 51 9 7 44 4 9 37 6
9.
8 9 ?

(1) 3 (2) 4 (3) 5 (4) 13

2 4 9
6 4 25
10.
8 4 ?

(1) 41 (2) 36 (3) 34 (4) 12

3 5 50

4 40 5 2 60 2 4 ? 3
11.
2 9 4

(1) 800 (2) 248 (3) 806 (4) 240

5 3 18
12. 7 63 9 11 40 6 7 ? 11
3 2 4
(1) 144 (2) 136 (3) 135 (4) 124

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8 12 9
13. 12 64 6 5 75 10 21 ? 12
9 8 14
(1) 102 (2) 152 (3) 162 (4) 172

4 7 7
14. 7 66 8 3 38 9 11 ? 9
6 4 2
(1) 91 (2) 108 (3) 116 (4) 119

3 6 2
15. 4 7.50 5 5 11.25 2 5 ? 2
2 3 9
(1) 10.25 (2) 10.50 (3) 11.25 (4) 11.50

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 Mental Ability

2 72 56
16. ? 0 42
12 20 30

(1) 4 (2) 6 (3) 8 (4) 10

91 64 73
17. 84 76 61
25 60 ?

(1) 66 (2) 68 (3) 69 (4) 71

7 32 ?
18. 31 8 25
11 24 9

(1) 50 (2) 48 (3) 47 (4) 51

4 20 25
19. 27 81 9
11 44 ?

(1) 4 (2) 16 (3) 30 (4) 55

–C 2B –3A
20. 2A ? –B
–3C –A –2B

(1) –3C (2) –2C (3) 3C (4) 2B

60 82 79

21. 45 1 55 49 4 32 37 ? 12

61 87 65

(1) 2 (2) 3 (3) 5 (4) 6

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108 39 115

22. 240 2 103 309 4 203 625 ? 104

17 25 101

(1) 3 (2) 5 (3) 7 (4) 8

3 7 1
23. 6 25 2 11 70 8 4 –12 5
4 6 ?

(1) 1 (2) 2 (3) 6 (4) 10

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Class X

? 31 5
24. 17 2 41
47 11 23

(1) 59 (2) 53 (3) 43 (4) 37

1 2 4
25. 2 2 4 5 19 7 8 ? 10
3 4 5
(1) 20 (2) 40 (3) 45 (4) 60

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ANSWERS
Que. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Ans. 2 1 1 2 1 2 4 2 4 2 1 1 3 2 3
Que. 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Ans. 2 1 3 2 3 3 1 2 1 2

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