SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 24 September 2025, Shift 2 · General Intelligence and Reasoning · Question 9 of 100

We transcribed this text from the pictures on a candidate's response sheet for this shift; the answer is the key SSC colour-marked on that sheet. Solution last reviewed 13 September 2026.

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SSC does not publish CGL question papers or a public answer key. From 2025 the candidate response sheet prints every question and option as a picture, so the text here is transcribed from those pictures for this shift and checked against them independently; where the layout carries meaning, the picture is shown as well. Each answer is the key SSC colour-marked on that sheet. SSC released a tentative key for challenge and later its final one, both only to candidates behind a login, and the sheet does not say which of the two it carries. The solutions are written by UnlockIAS.

Find the missing number: 11 : 1452 :: 12 : ?

(a)1872
(b)1864
(c)1850
(d)1800

Answer

Why

Correct — A.
Rule: n → n² × (n + 1).

11² = 121
121 × 12 = 1452 ✓

12² = 144
144 × 13 = 1872 → option (a).

Why the others are wrong

(b)
1864 — 1864 is 8 short of 144 × 13. It is not a whole multiple of 144, so it cannot be 12² times a whole number.
(c)
1850 — 1850 falls between 144 × 12 = 1728 and 144 × 13 = 1872, so it is not a multiple of 144 at all.
(d)
1800 — 1800 is 144 × 12.5. The rule needs 12² × 13 = 1872, a whole-number multiple.

Concept

In a number analogy, work out how the second number is built from the first, then build the same way from the new number.

1452 is large next to 11, so try its powers. 11² = 121, and 1452 ÷ 121 = 12, one more than 11. So the pair is n² × (n + 1), which is also n³ + n²: 1331 + 121 = 1452.

The n³ + n² form gives a quick check for 12: 1728 + 144 = 1872. Divisibility works too: of the four options, 1872 is the one that 144 divides.

Key facts

11² = 121 and 11³ = 1331.
12² = 144 and 12³ = 1728.
n² × (n + 1) = n³ + n².

Study next

Number analogies built on n² + n or n³ − nSquares and cubes from 1 to 25Divisibility checks for eliminating options

Common traps

Stopping at 1452 = 11 × 132 without seeing that 132 = 11 × 12
Choosing 1864 for being close to 1872 instead of checking divisibility by 144

Here SSC pairs a two-digit number with a four-digit number built from its square and the next whole number.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: Number Series — all 178 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.