Select the correct mirror image of the given figure when the mirror is placed at MN as shown.
- (a)
- (b)
- (c)
- (d)
Answer
Why
Correct — A. The mirror stands at the vertical line MN on the right, so both the order and each glyph turn left to right.
The strip reads b c F g I, the last mark being a plain vertical bar.
Rule: reverse the order, then flip every character.
Order becomes I g F c b.
Flipped: the bar is unchanged because it is symmetrical, the g and the F face the other way, the c opens to the left, and the b becomes a d.
One strip alone shows all five characters turned — option (a)
Why the others are wrong
- (b)Here the c and the b keep their original direction — the c still opens to the right and the b still carries its bowl on the right. Both have to turn.
- (c)Here the g is printed the original way round and the c still opens to the right. Only the F and the b have been flipped, and every one of the four asymmetric glyphs has to turn.
- (d)Here only the c has been turned. The g, the F and the b are printed exactly as they are in the question.
Concept
The order test eliminates nothing in this item, because every option already runs from the bar to the b. The whole question is settled glyph by glyph.
Go through the characters one at a time and ask of each: has it been turned about its own vertical axis? The pair b and d is the fastest check, since a mirrored b reads as a d.
Symmetrical characters are the ones that mislead. The plain vertical bar looks identical either way, so it can never separate two options.
The letters here were chosen so that four of the five change visibly. That is why an option that flips only two or three of them still looks plausible at a glance.
Key facts
- A vertical mirror reverses the reading order and flips each character left to right.
- b and d are mirror images of each other.
- A plain vertical bar is symmetrical about a vertical axis and looks the same in the mirror.
- c reflected opens to the left, and F reflected has its arms on the left of the stem.
Study next
Common traps
- Reversing the order of the characters but printing each one the right way round
- Flipping the obvious letters, b and c, and leaving the F or the g as they were
- Treating the vertical bar as evidence for one option, when it looks the same in all
The same MN-mirror instruction appears earlier in this shift at Reasoning Q.10 (09 Sep 2024, 09:00), on the strip y T f r 9 3 n.
Related PYQs
No directly related past PYQ was found.