GCAT Numerical Series Patterns 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is the next number: 3, 5, 9, 17, 33, ?
- 55
- 61
- 65 (Correct answer)
- 67
Correct answer: 65
Each term after the first is found by doubling the previous term and subtracting 1: 33 × 2 − 1 = 65.
Question 2: Find the missing number: 81, 27, 9, 3, ?
- 0
- 1 (Correct answer)
- 2
- 3
Correct answer: 1
Each term is divided by 3, so 3 ÷ 3 = 1.
Question 3: Complete the sequence: 6, 11, 16, 21, 26, ?
- 28
- 29
- 30
- 31 (Correct answer)
Correct answer: 31
Each term increases by 5, so 26 + 5 = 31.
Question 4: What comes next: 2, 6, 12, 20, 30, ?
- 38
- 40
- 42 (Correct answer)
- 44
Correct answer: 42
The differences are 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 — increasing by 2 each time, so 30 + 12 = 42.
Question 5: Find the next value: 144, 121, 100, 81, 64, ?
- 45
- 47
- 49 (Correct answer)
- 54
Correct answer: 49
These are perfect squares in descending order (12², 11², 10², 9², 8²), so the next is 7² = 49.
Question 6: What is the next term: 4, 8, 24, 96, 480, ?
- 1440
- 2400
- 2880 (Correct answer)
- 4800
Correct answer: 2880
The multipliers are ×2, ×3, ×4, ×5, ×6 — each increases by 1, so 480 × 6 = 2880.
Question 7: Complete the series: 17, 14, 11, 8, 5, ?
- 0
- 1
- 2 (Correct answer)
- 3
Correct answer: 2
Each term decreases by 3, so 5 − 3 = 2.
GCAT Numerical Series Patterns 5
What is the next number: 3, 5, 9, 17, 33, ?