Sequences and series (as the name suggests) consists of questions where you are supposed to

understand the logic behind a given sequence or series of number/alphabets. Based on this
understanding you are supposed to determine either:
(a) A continuation to the series
(b) The immediate next term of the series
or
(c) A missing term/terms within the series.
While preparing yourself to solve such questions, you should improve your ability to spot a particular
relationship between terms within the series. The common logical premises used for questions are
given here.

SERIES BASED ON NUMBERS

1. Squares
2. Squares + something or squares–something e.g. next term in the series
24, 35, 48, 63, 80... will be 99 since the series is (52 + 1), (62 + 1), etc.
3. Cubes, cubes + something, cubes–something
4. Geometric series
5. Arithmetic series
6. Harmonic series
7. Series of constantly changing additions or multiplications, e.g.,
(i) 2, 6, 24, 120,.......... (The terms are got by ¥ 3, ¥ 4, ¥ 5, and so on.)
(ii) 11, 16, 22, 29, 37,.......... (The series follows a logic of +5, +6, +7, +8, and so on.)
8. Binary numbers systems or number systems with other bases like Base 3, Base 4, etc.
9. Intermingled series–
 e.g., 2, 5, 6, 10, 18, 15, 54
In this series alternate terms starting with the first form a GP with common ratio 3, while the
2nd, 4th, 6th terms form an AP 5, 10, 15.........

SERIES BASED ON ALPHABETS

In such series, the most crucial aspect is to know the position of each alphabet in the alphabet series
A to Z both from start to end.
Thus, the following reference numbers for each alphabet become important:
Going Forward 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

Alphabet A B C D E F G H I J K L M

Going Back from Z 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14

Going Forward 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

Alphabet N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Going back from Z 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Notice that M and N are the two middle points of this series.
Let us now look at a few solved examples before we go into the practice exercise.

ILLUSTRATION 1
Which of the numbers given below would come next in the series of numbers?
1, 9, 25, __
(a) 36 (b) 25
(c) 49 (d) none of these
Solution
The first number is 1, second is 9 and third is 25. We can easily observe that the numbers in the series
are squares of consecutive odd numbers. Hence, the next number would be the square of 7 which
would be 49. Thus Option (c) is correct.

ILLUSTRATION 2
Which of the following letters would come next in the series of letters?
Z, W, R, K, __
(a) A (b) C
(c) B (d) D
Solution
In the given series from the end of the alphabet series, Z is the 1st alphabet, W is the 4th alphabet, R is
the 9th alphabet and K is the 16th alphabet. Thus the next letter in the series will be the 25th alphabet
from the end or the second from the start. Hence, the next alphabet must be B. Thus (c) is the correct
option.

ILLUSTRATION 3
What would come next in the following series of numbers?
1, 2, 10, 37, __
(a) 62 (b) 91
(c) 101 (d) none of these
Solution
The series is following the +1, +8, +27 routine. Hence, the next number must be at an interval of +64
and should be 101. Thus Option (c) is the correct answer.

ILLUSTRATION 4
What would come next in the following series?
A10, D15, G20, J25 __
(a) N18 (b) O20
(c) M16 (d) none of these

Solution
In the series of letters represented above there is a gap of 2 letters between every two consecutive
terms and hence, the next letter will be M (after skipping K and L). Thus, the correct answer should
be M30. Thus Option (d) is correct.

ILLUSTRATION 5
What should come next in the series below?
122343456_______
(a) 45678 (b) 6789
(c) 34567 (d) none of these

Solution
We can see that the series is a group of joined series as 12, 234, 3456 and hence the next terms
should be 45678. Thus Option (a) is correct.

EXERCISE
Find out the missing term:
1. 0, 3, 8, 15, 24, 35, 48?
(a) 53 (b) 63
(c) 80 (d) none of these
2. 256, 64, 16, 4, ?
(a) 1 (b) 1/4
(c) 1/16 (d) none of these
3. Obtain the missing term
B, G, K, ?
(a) N (b) P
(c) M (d) L
4. 7,15, 27, ?, 63
(a) 42 (b) 43
(c) 38 (d) none of these
5. ?, 425, 600, 825, 1100, 1425
(a) 225 (b) 300
(c) 250 (d) none of these
6. 1, 121, 12321, 1234321, ___?
(a) 123454321 (b) 12344321
(c) 12345654321 (d) none of these
7. 0.005, 0.05, ?, 5
(a) 5.50 (b) 0.05
(c) 0.5 (d) none of these
8. 31, 32, 36, 45, ?
(a) 55 (b) 56
(c) 61 (d) 62
9. 1, 5, 2, 25, 3, 125, 4, ?
(a) 144 (b) 36
(c) 625 (d) 500
10. 83, 82, 80, 77, ?
(a) 74 (b) 73
(c) 75 (d) 76
11. 2/÷3, 3/÷4, 4/÷5, ?
(a) 5/÷6 (b) 5/÷5
(c) 6/÷5 (d) none of these
12. 1, 1, 5, 49, 11, 169, 19, ?
 (a) 256 (b) 289
(c) 324 (d) 361
13. 5, 36, 253, ?
(a) 1749 (b) 1750
(c) 1772 (d) 1771
14. 45678912, 5678912, 567891, ?
(a) 56789 (b) 67891
(c) 567891 (d) none of these
15. ABCDEFG, GABCDEF, FGABCDE, ?
(a) EFGABCD (b) GABCDEF
(c) EFGABCDE (d) FGABCDE
16. (1, 1), (2, 16), (3, 81), ?
(a) (4, 16) (b) (4, 64)
(c) (4, 256) (d) none of these
17. 1, 4, 16, 64, ______ what will be the 8th term?
(a) 1024 (b) 16384
(c) 4096 (d) none of these
18. 40, 24, 16, 12, 10, 9, ?
(a) 8.5 (b) 8
(c) 7.5 (d) none of these
19. 7, 28, 70, 140, ?
(a) 240 (b) 250
(c) 245 (d) none of these
20. 729, 1331, 1728, ?
(a) 2180 (b) 2185
(c) 2196 (d) none of these
21. 0.7, 2.8, 11.2, 44.8, ?
(a) 178.2 (b) 177.2
(c) 179 (d) 179.2
22. 1, 5/4, 21/16, ______ what will be the nth term of the series?
(a) {1 – (1/4)n}/(3/4)
(b) {1 + (1/3)n}/(2/3)n
(c) {(1/3)n + 1}/(2/3)
 (d) none of these

23. 600, 550, 450, 300, ?

(a) 50 (b) 0
(c) 100 (d) 150
24. 1, 2, 3, 6, 11, 20, 37, 68 ?
(a) 125 (b) 126
(c) 124 (d) 105
25. 12, 24, 36, 48, ?, 72
(a) 50 (b) 55
(c) 60 (d) 70
26. 1, 6, 11, ______ what will be its 15th term?
(a) 46 (b) 76
(c) 66 (d) 71
27. –3, 4, 23, 60, 121?
(a) 22 (b) 212
(c) 205 (d) none of these
28. 20, 26, 62, ?, 1574
(a) 125 (b) 150
(c) 278 (d) 200
29. 45, 40, 35, _____ which term will be the first negative term of the series?
(a) 10th term (b) 11th term
(c) 12th term (d) 13th term
30. 1/1, 4/8, 9/27, 16/64, 25/125, ?
(a) 36/49 (b) 49/64
(c) 36/216 (d) none of these
31. 1, 3, 2, 5, 3, 7, 4, 9, 5, 11, 6, ?
(a) 10 (b) 11
(c) 13 (d) 9
32. 1, 4, 27, ?
(a) 256 (b) 3125
(c) 2425 (a) none of these
33. What is the next term in the following series?
 ABE, BCF, CDG, DEH, EFI, ______
(a) FGK (b) FGJ
(c) FGL (d) none of these
34. What is the next term in the following series?
ZYXWTSRQNMLK
(a) I (b) G
(c) H (d) J
35. What is the sum of infinite terms of the given series?
4 + 4 ¥ 41/2 + 4 ¥ 41/2 ¥ 41/4 + ______.
(a) 12 (b) 16
(c) 64 (d) none of these
36. What is the next term in the following series?
1, 4, 3, 9, 5, 16, 7, 25, 9, 36, 11, ?
(a) 64 (b) 49
(c) 48 (d) 55
37. Calculate the sum of the series
1 + 1/4 + 1/16 + ______.
(a) 3/4 (b) 4/3
(c) 2 (d) none of these
38. Calculate the missing term.
625, 125, ?, 5, 1
(a) 1/5 (b) 1
(c) 5 (d) none of these
39. Obtain the missing term.
300, 296, 287, 271, ?, 210
(a) 246 (b) 250
(c) 244 (d) none of these
40. Obtain the missing term.
12, 15, 19, ?, 30, 37
(a) 35 (b) 34
(c) 37 (d) 24
Directions for Questions 41 to 47: In each of the following number series a wrong number is given.
Find out the wrong number.
41. 31, 22, 30, –32, –89, –174
(a) 22 (b) 30
(c) –32 (d) –89
42. 4, 26, 163, 1149, 9201, 82809
(a) 26 (b) 163
(c) 82809 (d) 9201
43. 4, 39, 269, 1605, 8009, 32011
(a) 4 (b) 39
(c) 269 (d) 1005
44. 28, 84, 112, 196, 308, 504, 872
(a) 112 (b) 196
(c) 308 (d) 872
45. 14, 20, 369, 1288, 12961, 155432
(a) 14 (b) 20
(c) 369 (d) 1288
46. 14400, 7200, 4800, 3600, 2800, 2400
(a) 7200 (b) 4800
(c) 2800 (d) 2400
47. 300, 421, 592, 815, 1104, 1465
(a) 421 (b) 1104
(c) 815 (d) 592
Direction for Questions 48 to 50: Study the following information carefully to answer the questions
given below:
S QA5 N% T 7 B 4 # J E $ 2 T D*1 8 H3 U@9 F W© K
48. How many such consonants are there in the above arrangement, each of which is immediately
followed by a vowel but not immediately preceded by a number?
(a) One (b) Two
(c) Three (d) More than three
49. How many such consonants are there in the above arrangement, each of which is either
immediately preceded by a vowel or immediately followed by a symbol but not both?
(a) None (b) One
(c) Two (d) Three
 50. Which of the following is the seventh to the left of the fifteenth from the left end in the above
arrangement?
(a) H (b) B
(c) 1 (d) 7
51. The letters skipped between adjacent letters is in the order of 1, 2, 3, 4, ..... Which alternative
follows this rule ?
(a) EFJNS (b) EGJOS
(c) EGJNS (d) EGJNT
52. Which of the following will come in place of the question mark (?) in the following sequence?
16D7, 18G10, 21KI4, 25P19, ?
(a) 30V20 (b) 30V25
(c) 30V24 (d) 29V25
Directions Questions 53 to 55: Complete the following series:
53. BZ, HT, NN, ?, ZB
(a) LF (b) SX
(c) TH (d) TI
54. J2Z, K4X, I7V, ?, HI6R, F22P
(a) G11T (b) G11S
(c) L12S (d) G11U
55. ane ____ ba ______ ebb ______ neb _____an _______ bb
(a) e b b a b (b) b B a b e
(c) B b a b e (d) b n a b e
56. In a row of children, Bali is seventh from the left and Moti is fourth from the right. When Bali
and Moti exchange positions, Bali will be fifteenth from the left. What will be Moti’s position
from the right?
(a) Eighth (b) Fourth
(c) Eleventh (d) Twelfth
57. Which of the following cannot be a number of the series ….64, 125, 216, 343, 512 …..?
(a) 8 (b) 729
(c) 27 (d) 999
58. Complete the series
E-5, G-7, I-9, K-11, ?
(a) L-13, N-14 (b) M-13, O-15
 (c) L-12, M-14 (d) K-12, M-14
59. An application was received by class teacher in the afternoon of a week day. Next day she
forwarded it to the Student Coordinator, who was on leave that day. The Student Coordinator
put up the application to the principal next day in the evening. The Principal studied the
application and disposed off the matter on the same day, i.e, Saturday. Which day was the
application received by the inward clerk?
(a) Monday (b) Wednesday
(c) Tuesday (d) Thursday
60. Which letter should be the tenth letter to the left of the ninth letter from the right, if the first
half of the alphabet of English are reversed ?
(a) D (b) F
(c) E (d) I

Answer Key

1. (b) 2. (a) 3. (a) 4. (b)

5. (b) 6. (a) 7. (c) 8. (c)
9. (c) 10. (b) 11. (a) 12. (d)
13. (c) 14. (b) 15. (a) 16. (c)
17. (b) 18. (a) 19. (c) 20. (d)
21. (d) 22. (a) 23. (c) 24. (a)
25. (c) 26. (d) 27. (b) 28. (c)
29. (b) 30. (c) 31. (c) 32. (a)
33. (b) 34. (c) 35. (b) 36. (b)
37. (d) 38. (d) 39. (d) 40. (d)
41. (b) 42. (c) 43. (a) 44. (d)
45. (c) 46. (c) 47. (c) 48. (a)
49. (b) 50. (d) 51. (c) 52. (b)
53. (c) 54. (a) 55. (d) 56. (d)
57. (d) 58. (b) 59. (d) 60. (b)

Solutions
1. The series is following the pattern +3, +5, +7, +9, +11, +13 and hence the next term should be
 48 + 15 = 63. Answer is option (b).

2. The given series is a GP with common ratio . Hence, option (a) is correct.

3. The series is defined by the 2nd, 7th, 11th term of the alphabet. Hence, the next term would be
the 14th term i.e., N. Option (a) is the correct answer.
4. The series follows a pattern of +8, +12, +__, +20. Obviously we need to add 16 for the
missing term. Hence, 43 i.e., option (b) is the correct answer.
5. The series follows a pattern of +175, +225, +275, +325. Hence, the first term should be 300,
so the answer is option (b).
6. The series is representing the values of 12, 11 2, 111 2, 1111 2. Hence, the next value would be
111112 = 123454321, so option (a) is the answer.
7. A GP with common ratio 10. Hence, the missing term will be 0.5 i.e., option (c).
8. +1, +4, +9, thus +16 and hence the next term should be 61. Correct answer is option (c).
9. There are two series intermixed with one another. One of the series is placed at the odd
places of the series and the other is placed at the even places. The series at the even places of
the series is 5, 25, 125 and hence its next term should be 625. Option (c) is correct answer.
10. The logic of the series is –1, –2, –3 and hence –4 should give us 73. So, the answer is option
(b).
11. Obviously the answer has to be option (a).
12. There are two series intermingled in the given series of numbers. 1, 5, 11, 19 and the other
series is 12, 72, 132 and 192 = 361. Hence, option (d) is the answer.
13. The series follows the pattern of ¥ 7 + 1. Hence, the next number in the series is 253 ¥ 7 + 1 =
1772. Option (c) is the answer.
14. We are consecutively deleting one digit from the left and then one digit from the right and then
the next move has to be to delete one digit from the left. Hence, the answer is option (b).
15. The next term is formed by removing the last alphabet in the previous term and attaching it to
the first alphabet of the next term. Hence, the next term in the series would be EFGABCD. So,
the answer is option (a).
16. The relationship followed in each bracket is the fourth power of the first digit in the bracket.
Hence, option (c) is correct.
17. 256,1024,4096,16384. Option (b) is correct.
18. The series follows a logic of –16, –8, –4, –2, –1. Hence, the next term in the series would be
9 – 0.5 = 8.5. Correct answer is option (a).
19. The addition between various terms of the series follows a logic of 7 ¥ 3, 7 ¥ 6, 7 ¥ 10.
Hence, the next addition should be 7 ¥ 15. Hence, the next term in the series would be 140 +
105 = 245. So, the answer is option (c).
20. The series represents 93,113,133 and hence the next term should be 153; correct answer is (d).
21. GP with common ratio 4. Hence, the next term would be 179.2 i.e., option (d).
22. The formula for the nth term can be easily verified from the given terms of the series. Option
 (a) is correct.
23. The series follows the logic of –50, –100, –150 and hence the next term of the series should
be 300 – 200 = 100. Correct answer is option (c).
24. Beginning with 6, each term of the series is the sum of the previous 3 terms. Hence, the next
term would be 125. So, the answer is option (a).
25. AP with common difference 12. Hence, the unknown term is 12. So option (c) is the answer.
26. AP with common difference 5. Hence, 15th term is 71. Answer is option (d).
27. +7, +19, +37, +61. Hence, the next term in the series would be 121 + 91 = 212, answer is (b).
28. We are consecutively adding increasing powers of 6. Hence, option (c) is correct.
29. The first negative term will be –5 (11th term). Hence, option (b) is the answer.
30. The numerator is represented by n2 and the denominator is represented by n3. Hence, the next
term in the series would be 36/216, option (c) is the answer.
31. Two series are intermixed. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 3, 5, 7, 9, 11. Hence, the next term should be
13. So option (c) is the answer.
32. The general term of the series is nn. Hence, the next term in the series would be 44 = 256.
Option (a) is the answer.
33. The next term in the series would be FGJ. Hence, option (b) is the answer.
34. The given series starts with the last 4 alphabets of the English language and then gives a break
of 2 alphabets, followed by the next four alphabets and so on. Hence, the next term in the
series would be H (after skipping J and I). So option (c) is the answer.
35. On close observation of the series you will realise that every subsequent term reduces in
value from the previous term. Hence, by estimating values we can estimate that the sum of this
series to infinite terms would be 16. The correct answer is option (b).
36. Two series are intermingled with each other as 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 and 2 2, 32, 42, 52, 62. Hence,
the next term in the series would be 72 = 49, so the correct answer is option (b).

37. Infinite GP with common ratio . Hence, Sum to infinity = 1/(3/4) = 4/3. Answer is option

(b).
38. GP with common ratio 1/5. Hence, option (d) is correct.
39. The series follows the logic of –4, –9, –16 and hence the missing term must be 271 – 25 =
246. So option (d) is correct.
40. The series follows the logic of +3, +4, +5, +6 and +7. Hence, the missing term would be 19 +
5 = 24. So option (d) is the correct answer.
41. Obviously 30 is the misplaced number because all other terms are in a reducing series here.
Option (b) is correct.
42. The logic followed in this series is 4 ¥ 5 + 6 = 26; 26 ¥ 6 +7 = 163; 163 ¥ 7 + 8 =1149; 1149
¥ 8 + 9 = 9201. Only the last number in the series (82809) breaks this trend. Instead the
correct value should have been 9201 ¥ 9 + 10 = 82819. Thus, Option (c) is correct.
43. The logic followed in this series is 39 ¥ 7 – 4 = 269; 269 ¥ 6 – 9 = 1605; 1605 ¥ 5 –16 =
 8009; 8009 ¥ 4 – 25 = 32011. Only the movement from 4 to 39 is unexplained by this trend.
Thus, 4 is the incorrect number in the series. Option (a) is correct.
44. The logic of this series is that the sum of two numbers makes the third one in the series. This
we can observe by seeing 28+84=112, 84+112=196 and so on. The only number that does not
satisfy this logic is 308 +504, which should be 812 and not 872. Thus, 872 is the wrong
number in the series.
45. The logic is 14 ¥ 4 – 36 = 20; 20 ¥ 6 + 49 =169; 169 ¥ 8 –64 = 1288, 1288 ¥ 10 + 81 =
12961; 12961 ¥ 12 –100 = 155532. Obviously, the incorrect value in the series is 369 and
Option (c) is the correct answer.
46. The logic of the series is 14400 ¥ ½ = 7200, 7200 ¥ 2/3 = 4800, 4800 ¥ 3/4 = 3600, 3600 ¥
4/5 = 2880. Obviously the number 2800 is out of place. Option (c) is correct.
47. The logic of the additions are 121,171, 221, 291, 361 and so on. Thus, the number series
should be 300, 421, 592, 813, 1104,1465. The number 815 is misplaced in the above series
and hence Option (c) is incorrect.
48. T7 is the only instance of a consonant followed by a number and not preceded by a number.
Option (a) is correct.
49. 5N% is the only instance of a consonant either followed by a symbol or preceded by a vowel
but not both. Option (b) is correct.
50. The fifteenth from the left is ‘2’ while the 7th to the left of 2 is ‘7’ itself. Option (d) is correct.
51. EGJNS follows the skipping of 1, 2, 3 & 4 letters respectively as we can see in:
EFGHIJKLMNOPQRS
52. Hence, option (c) is the correct answer. There are three series in the sequence. The numbers
to the left of the letter— 16, 18, 21, 25 are increasing continuously by 1 more than the
previous increase, i.e., the series of increases in these numbers are + 2, +3, +4 and the next
number should be +5; thus 25 +5=30.
The letters DGKP form a series where 2, 3 and 4 letters are skipped every time. Hence, the
next letter would be V. Similarly, 7, 10, 14, 19 would give 25 as the next term. Thus, the
correct answer would be 30V25 option (b).
53. For the first alphabet add 6 to the position number to get the next first alphabet of the next
element of the series and for the second alphabet subtract 6 from the position and we’ll get the
required number. Option (c) is correct.
54. For the first alphabet we jump from one alphabet to the next alphabet and then to the alphabet
right before the first jump. The numbers move with a gap of 2,3,4… .For the last alphabet
count from Z leaving one alphabet in the count.
G11T would be correct. Option (a) is correct.
55. It is a repetition of the string: anebb. The missing alphabets in the blanks are: bnabe. Option
(d) is correct.
56. Since, Bali’s count from the left goes up by 8, Moti’s count from the right would go down by 8
too. Option (d) is correct.
57. All the numbers in the series are perfect cubes. 999 is not a cube of any natural number.
 Hence, Option (d) does not belong to the series.
58. M13 & O15 should be the correct terms. Option (b) is correct
59. A gap of two days is there in receiving and the disposal of the application. Thursday would
be the correct answer option (d).
60. We are looking for the 19th letter from the right in the series:
MLKJIHGFEDCBA NOPQRSTUVWXYZ.
The letter would be F as can be counted from the above series. Option (b) is correct.