Select the figure from among the given options that can replace the question mark (?) and logically complete the series.

Correct — A. Two elements move at once, on different clocks.

Rule: the leaf and its attached line turn 45° anticlockwise each step; the arrow turns 90° clockwise each step, position and heading together.

Follow the line on the leaf: it points down in frame 1, down-right in frame 2, right in frame 3, up-right in frame 4 — so in frame 5 it points straight up.

Follow the arrow: top pointing right, then right side pointing down, then bottom pointing left, then left side pointing up — so frame 5 puts it back at the top, pointing right.

Four steps of 45° make a half turn, so the answer is simply frame 1 turned upside down with the arrow restored to its opening position. Option (a) is that figure.

Why the others are wrong

• (b)
  The leaf is right, but the arrow sits at the bottom of the box. Its position advances a quarter turn every step, so after the left-hand frame it must come back to the top.
• (c)
  The arrow is right, but the leaf's line points up-left — one 45° step too far. That is what frame 6 would look like, not frame 5.
• (d)
  Leaf and arrow position are both right, but the arrow points left. Its heading turns with it, so after four quarter-turns it must point right again.

When a frame carries two elements, track them separately and write down a heading for each, as a compass point or in degrees. Elements in SSC figure series routinely rotate at different rates and in opposite senses, and looking at the frame as a whole hides that.

A useful cross-check: when an element's turn divides evenly into the number of steps, it returns to its starting state. The arrow turns 90° a step, so after four steps it is exactly where frame 1 had it, while the leaf has come only half way round.

Key facts

• The line on the leaf points down, down-right, right and up-right across the four given frames.
• The arrow moves top, right, bottom, left while its heading turns right, down, left, up.
• Four 45° steps make 180°, so the answer figure is the first frame rotated a half turn.

Common traps

• Settling the leaf's angle and taking the first option that matches it
• Reading the arrow's position but not its heading, which is what separates two of the options
• Mistaking a 45° anticlockwise turn for a mirror image of the previous frame

No directly related past PYQ was found.