How to Find Missing Numbers in a Sequence
Hello friends. How are you all? Today we are going to discuss a very interesting topic. It is very interesting because it is related to Mathematics and reasoning.
We know about Mathematics but what is reasoning. It is a subject that checks our logical ability to understand any topic. It checks how we can understand any topic and how we can solve it.
Reasoning contains many topics but ‘Sequence and Series‘ is one of the most important. Under this heading, some sub-topics are covered ex. Series completion, finding odd numbers in the series and missing numbers.
How to Find Missing Numbers in a Sequence
Our today’s article depends upon the Missing Number in a number series. We can see many questions on this topic in scholarship exams, MTSE, NTSE, NMMS exams, and competitive exams for government sectors. It is a very easy topic if we understand the question.
It is an important topic in the view of banking exams. As per the post the difficulty level increases. So it is a must to solve more questions on this topic.
So it becomes very important to have knowledge about it. Today I am going to tell you about every small thing about this topic. Finally, there are some pro tips for you. So read the article carefully till the end.
We are going to cover the following points:
- What is number series?
- What is the Missing Number in the Series?
- How to find the missing number?
- Steps to apply for finding the missing number
So without wasting much time let’s start.
What is number series?
As the name indicated, it is a series of numbers that are arranged in proper order or written in a pattern. All the number in the given series follows the same pattern.
What is the missing number series?
It is a type of number series, in which we have given a question mark or an empty space in the place of a number. We have to find which number can occupy the place from the given options.
Types of missing number series:
All these kind of series follows a particular pattern or some sequence. By this pattern or sequence, all given numbers are arranged. Some of such examples are as:
- Series of even numbers.
- Series of odd numbers.
- Series of prime numbers.
- Series of squares.
- Series of cubes.
- Series of multiples.
- The arithmetic sequence of series.
- The geometric sequence of series.
- The alternating sequence of series.
And some of this kind of pattern is given. From the question you have to decide which of the above pattern is followed. Then by applying the same pattern, you can find the missing number in the series.
How to solve the missing number series?
For this, you first have to understand the question well. Try to find the pattern of the series. Then apply this pattern to the neighboring numbers of the series. In this way, you can reach the solution.
Steps to solve the series:
- Read the question carefully. Sometimes reading a question is enough to solve the question. Ex. Find the mission number in the series: 2, 4, 6, ? 10.
- After reading this question, you can see that all the numbers are even numbers. Hence can you find the answer? Right the answer is 8.
- Observe whether the series is increasing or decreasing. This observation will save our time. By this method, we get a rough idea of what may be the pattern of the series.
- See whether the numbers are increasing or decreasing suddenly: It will help you to understand the rate of changing the numbers. If the numbers are increasing or decreasing slowly then we can carry out addition or subtraction. But when numbers change suddenly then we must go with multiplication, division, squares, or cube.
- If you can not find the answer with all your efforts, then you can check whether the series is following the alternate pattern. Ex. Find the missing number in the series: 4, 8, 9, 18, 21,?
- Here you can see that the first number in the series is exactly double the second number. Hence you can find the answer which is 42.
- If there is an extreme change in the series, then check it for the cubic series.
In this way, you can take decisions in minimum time.
As reasoning is one of the most important topics in banking exams, you need to increase your skills. For this purpose, we are giving some Pro-tips to you. You can use it to increase your speed.
Pro-tips:
- Learn squares and square roots of the minimum of the number up to the first 30 numbers.
- You must learn numbers tables up to 30.
- Daily practice for quick analysis of the question.
- Speed and accuracy in the calculations.
- Try to solve more and more questions about this topic.
All these tips can help you to find a quick answer.
Conclusion:
Friends, keep one thing in mind reasoning is completely based upon your ability to understand the questions. Only practice can increase this ability. Do not take it lightly.
All the Best…..!
FAQ about How to Find Missing Numbers in a Sequence
Ans: Practice is the only answer to this question.
Ans: Most of the questions are based on the simple differences between two numbers. So at first, you must go with the difference.
Ans: Read and understand all types of series first. Increasing the analytical speed helps you in saving time.
Ans: It is a series of numbers that follows some logical pattern. But there is one number that does not follow the pattern. We have to find that number. It is called a wrong number series.
Ans:
1. Observe the numbers in the series, whether they are in ascending or descending order.
2. Then calculate the difference between the numbers.
3. If the difference is large, then check for multiplication or division.
4. Still you find the difference is greater, then check it for squares or cubes.