2, 4, 12, 48, ? — Number & Letter Series Aptitude Question
2, 4, 12, 48, ?: Find the next term: 2, 4, 12, 48, ? Answer and worked solution on CodeKairo.
- Topic: Number & Letter Series
- Section: Logical Reasoning
- Difficulty: Medium
- Time target: 60 seconds
Question
Find the next term:
2, 4, 12, 48, ?
Options
- 96
- 144
- 196
- 240
Show the answer and the worked solution
Correct answer: D. 240
Worked solution
- 2 × 2 = 4; 4 × 3 = 12; 12 × 4 = 48.
- Next = 48 × 5 = 240.
Answer: 240.
The idea
Divide each term by the previous to expose the multipliers. A rising sequence of multipliers is the pattern.
Shortcut. The terms are 2 × 1!, 2 × 2!, 2 × 3!, 2 × 4!, so the next is 2 × 5! = 2 × 120 = 240.
Common trap. 96 — doubling 48 because the series opens 2, 4 like a doubling one; 4 → 12 is × 3 and 12 → 48 is × 4, so × 5 is due.