Concept 4 of 5
Family & Blood Relations: One Hop at a Time
Today's big idea
Walk the family tree one hop at a time, up, down or sideways.
Mother's mother is two hops up. Father's brother is up then sideways.
How it works
👀 What's going on?
A blood-relation puzzle describes a chain of people and asks how the two ends are related. Read it all in one go and it tangles. Take it one hop at a time and it never does.
💡 Here's the trick
Look at the tree above. Every relationship word is a single hop: up to a parent, down to a child, or sideways to a brother or sister. Your mother's mother is two hops up, which is your grandmother. Your father's brother is one hop up then one sideways, which is your uncle.
🪄 How to do it
- 1.Start where the question starts, finding that person on a tree like the picture above.
- 2.Take each hop in turn, up for a parent, sideways for a sibling, down for a child.
- 3.Name whoever you land on at the end.
✍️ Try it
Who is your fathers sisters daughter to you? Take it one hop at a time rather than all at once.
One hop up to your father, one sideways to his sister who is your aunt, then one hop down to her daughter. That makes her your cousin. Three hops, and not one of them was hard on its own.
⚠️ Watch out
You might be thinking short chains can be jumped straight to. Even two hops catch people out, because your sister's son is your nephew while your sister's daughter is your niece. Take the hops in the order written.
🌟 Why this matters
Working out how you are related to someone at a family wedding is this exact puzzle. Drawing a small tree beats holding four people in your head.
Exam tip: Sketch the tree with yourself at the bottom, because every hop then has an obvious direction.
Watch me solve one
Quanta solves it
“Watch how I think through one of these — then you try.”
THE PROBLEM
“Your mother's brother is your ___ ?”
- 1
Hop 1
Mother is one step UP on the family tree.
- 2
Hop 2
Her brother is one step SIDEWAYS.
- 3
Name the relation
Mother's brother = Uncle.
- 4
Answer ✓
= Uncle
Now you try one — same steps, different story 👇
See it in action
⚡ Time to play!
Who is your mother's mother? Take one hop at a time along the family tree.
FAMILY · ROUND 1 OF 3
Quick check
✅ VERIFICATION
Your brother's son is your ___ ?
⚡ Finish the activity above first to answer.
Keep going!
Up next: Letter & Coding Analogies
Step forward, jump to a number, or mirror the alphabet.