A shape, its shading and a dot all change along this series. Which figure comes fifth? Four boxes in a row, then a fifth box marked with a question mark. Box 1: a shaded triangle, with a dot at the middle of the top edge. Box 2: an unshaded square, with a dot at the top-right corner. Box 3: a shaded pentagon, with a dot at the middle of the right edge. Box 4: an unshaded hexagon, with a dot at the bottom-right corner.

Figure 1 (A box containing a shaded hexagon, with a dot at the middle of the bottom edge.)

A shape, its shading and a dot all change along…

A shape, its shading and a dot all change along this series.

HardOriginal question

A shape, its shading and a dot all change along this series. Which figure comes fifth?

Figure 1

Correct answerYour answerFigure 2 A box containing a shaded heptagon, with a dot at the bottom-right corner.

Correct answerYour answerFigure 3 A box containing a shaded heptagon, with a dot at the middle of the bottom edge.

Correct answerYour answerFigure 4 A box containing an unshaded heptagon, with a dot at the middle of the bottom edge.

Correct answerYour answer

Show the answer and explanation

CorrectNot quiteAnswer C

Correct answer: C

The shape gains one side each time: triangle, square, pentagon, hexagon, so next comes a heptagon.
Shaded and unshaded shapes alternate, starting shaded, so the fifth shape is shaded.
The dot moves 1 place clockwise round the box each time (the 4 corners and 4 edge midpoints are the 8 places): from the bottom-right corner it goes to the middle of the bottom edge.
Figure 3 shows a shaded heptagon, with a dot at the middle of the bottom edge.

Worth noting

Track one element at a time across all four boxes, and check each option against every rule; each wrong figure here breaks exactly one of them.

Ten questions from Non-verbal Reasoning, at your own pace.

Ten questions from Non-verbal Reasoning, at your own pace.