Mensa Mensa IQ Spatial Reasoning and Patterns 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What comes next in the series: 2, 4, 8, 16, ?
- 24
- 30
- 32 (Correct answer)
- 36
Correct answer: 32
Each number is doubled: 2×2=4, 4×2=8, 8×2=16, 16×2=32.
This is a geometric sequence where each term is multiplied by 2. Starting with 2: 2, 4, 8, 16, 32. The pattern is powers of 2: 2¹, 2², 2³, 2⁴, 2⁵=32.
Question 2: Complete the letter series: A, C, E, G, ?
- H
- I (Correct answer)
- J
- K
Correct answer: I
The series skips every other letter: A, B(skip), C, D(skip), E, F(skip), G, H(skip), I.
Each letter in the series is 2 positions ahead of the previous one in the alphabet. A(1), C(3), E(5), G(7), I(9). These are all odd-positioned letters.
Question 3: Hot is to Cold as Day is to ___?
- Sun
- Night (Correct answer)
- Noon
- Weather
Correct answer: Night
Hot and Cold are opposites. Day and Night are opposites.
This is an antonym analogy. Hot and Cold are polar opposites on the temperature scale. Similarly, Day and Night are polar opposites in the daily cycle. The relationship is one of direct opposition.
Question 4: A triangle has 3 sides. A square has 4 sides. A pentagon has 5 sides. How many sides does an octagon have?
- 6
- 7
- 8 (Correct answer)
- 9
Correct answer: 8
The prefix 'octo' means 8, so an octagon has 8 sides.
Greek and Latin numerical prefixes are used for polygon names: tri=3, quad/tetra=4, penta=5, hexa=6, hepta=7, octa=8, nona=9, deca=10. Octagon comes from 'octo' meaning 8.
Question 5: All mammals are warm-blooded. All dogs are mammals. Therefore, all dogs are ___?
- Carnivores
- Warm-blooded (Correct answer)
- Vertebrates
- Domesticated
Correct answer: Warm-blooded
If all mammals are warm-blooded, and all dogs are mammals, then all dogs must be warm-blooded (syllogistic logic).
This is a classic syllogism: Premise 1: All mammals are warm-blooded. Premise 2: All dogs are mammals. Conclusion: All dogs are warm-blooded. The conclusion follows necessarily from the two premises.
Question 6: What number is missing? 3, 6, 9, ?, 15, 18
- 10
- 11
- 12 (Correct answer)
- 13
Correct answer: 12
This is the 3 times table: 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18.
Each term increases by 3. This is an arithmetic sequence with a common difference of 3: 3+3=6, 6+3=9, 9+3=12, 12+3=15, 15+3=18. The missing term is 12.
Question 7: In a 3x3 grid, all shapes in Row 1 are circles. All shapes in Column 1 are shaded. What is the shape in Row 1, Column 1?
- A shaded square
- An unshaded circle
- A shaded circle (Correct answer)
- A shaded triangle
Correct answer: A shaded circle
Row 1 contains circles, and Column 1 contains shaded shapes. The intersection must be a shaded circle.
Matrix reasoning requires satisfying multiple constraints at once. The cell at (Row 1, Column 1) must be: (1) a circle, because all of Row 1 are circles, AND (2) shaded, because all of Column 1 are shaded. Both conditions apply, so the answer is a shaded circle.
Mensa Mensa IQ Spatial Reasoning and Patterns 1
What comes next in the series: 2, 4, 8, 16, ?