Non-verbal reasoning: Cubes practice

Working with the nets of cubes can be tricky, but lots of

practice will boost your confidence.
The colours and shading on cubes can appear different when youre
examining the net (vertical lines become horizontal and vice versa when
folded), so take some time to make and play with these 3D cubes and
see how they change as you move them and put them on different sides.

Its also helpful to learn to identify the common nets of

cubes at a glance, so here they are:

Even though a cube

has 6 faces, non-verbal
reasoning questions will
only ask you to relate the
3 faces presented in the
different cubes.

CUBES PRACTICE EXERCISES 1-8

In these questions, the figure shown on the left is a 3D object.
Find the top view of the figure from one of the choices.
1

Answers:
1

Start by discounting obviously wrong answers: B

(features a spot side that isnt on the net), A and C
(there arent two adjacent black sides on the net),
and E (there arent three adjacent white sides on
the net). Check your answer, D, to see that all the
sides are in the correct position (which they are).

Use the grey side, which appears on all five cubes,

as your anchor. By looking at each cube individually
youll find the only potential answer, E.

Discount the cubes which have sides that dont

appear on the net (B, C, E). On cube A the H side,
dotted side and black side all appear in the correct
position, so that is the right answer.

Discount the cubes which have sides that dont

appear on the net (B, C, D). The net doesnt have
three adjacent white sides, so option E can also
be discounted. The correct answer is A.

A, D and E can be discounted immediately as the

net doesnt have grey sides or two white sides. The
spotted side and black sides arent adjacent on the
net, so B cant be the correct answer, it must be C.
Check the cube to confirm!

Discount option A (the net doesnt have two white

sides). It cant be option B, because the dotted side
wouldnt be visible if the adjacent black sides were
both visible. C and D are also incorrect, because
the sides we can see on the cubes dont match their
placement on the net. The correct answer is E.

A and C can be discounted (the net doesnt have

two white sides or two black sides). Working from
left to right, test option B first, and it fits. Check your
answer and move on.

A tricky question, as we cant discount any options

immediately. Working from left to right, look at each
cube and discount it when you realise that the 3D
view doesnt match the net. The correct answer is D.